400 terrorists waiting in PoK to sneak into J&K

SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI: The Army has said that 400 militants are waiting at various launch pads in Pakistan to sneak into the Valley.

Brigadier General Staff (BGS) of the 15 Corps, Brigadier Gurmeet Singh, told reporters in Srinagar that infiltration attempts from Pakistan will increase from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir once snow melts.

“The area of infiltration is high altitude , with rugged mountains and is snow laden, currently having 12 to 15 feet of snow. Terrorists, as is evident from the recoveries, were heavily armed, well equipped for snow and high altitude area and had the latest communication and navigation equipment, indicative of the support of intelligence and government agencies from across the LoC,” Brigadier Singh said. He said troops are ready to foil any such attempt as counter infiltration grid on the LoC was already functioning successfully.

Detailing about the recent infiltration attempt in Keran sector, in the frontier district of Kupwara, Brigadier Singh said the March 23 infiltration bid was the first major attempt during 2010. “In the ongoing operations since then, we have eliminated the complete group comprising eight militants till Saturday,” the Army official said.

According to data with the home ministry, 60 infiltration attempts have been foiled in Jammu and Kashmir since the beginning of this year.

Though the records show that militants have made no successful bid to cross over this year, officials are apprehensive that some militants may have still sneaked in by breaching the multitiered vigil on the fenced Line of Control of Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the director-general of Pakistan Rangers (Punjab), Muhammad Yaqub Khan, on Sunday reiterated that no smuggling and infiltration was taking place from Pakistani into Indian territory.