Army to deploy more troops in Poonch belt

The Army is moving in additional troops to the Rajouri-Poonch sector after a spate of attacks on security personnel and increased activity by Pakistan origin terrorists who have created hideouts in thick forests close to the Line of Control (LoC).

Sources said that troop deployments on the China border will not be impacted and additional forces will be moved to the terror impacted region, even from outside of Jammu and Kashmir if required. The Army is looking to crack down on terror modules that have scaled up attacks in Poonch-Rajouri sector, with forces suspecting a nexus between Pakistan and China to revive terrorism in the sector to pressurise removal of troops from Ladakh.

Troops with the Rashtriya Rifles - a specialist counter insurgency force - were moved to Ladakh after China brought in thousands of troops to disputed areas along the Line of Actual Control in 2020.


They Army has recently moved another brigade to the sector to counter terror activities and the numbers could be further bolstered given increased terror activities. Sources said that terror training camps and launching pads have been observed to be operating at strength, despite deteriorating economic conditions in Pakistan.

A spate of attacks on security forces have occurred in Poonch-Rajouri since mid-2021. It is suspected that highly trained former Pakistani Army soldiers have been pushed in to scale up attacks and reignite the sector that has remained relatively peaceful in the past decade.