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Lapses made CRPF vulnerable to attack

Last Updated 28 June 2016, 17:57 IST

The emergence of south Kashmir as the new hub of militancy was underscored yet again on Saturday last when a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) convoy was ambushed at Pampore. The attack is said to be the deadliest in three years; eight CRPF personnel were killed and another 25 were injured. It is the third major assault on the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in three weeks and is the second time in four months that Pampore has witnessed a major militant attack. The convoy was moving on the National Highway 44 when it was ambushed. This strategically vital road, which links Srinagar to Jammu and the rest of India, has come under repeated attack in recent months. The Lashkar-e-Toiba has claimed responsibility for the Pampore ambush. The son-in-law of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed is said to have masterminded the attack.

Neither the political leadership nor the military establishment has responded usefully to the Pampore attack. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh issued bellicose warnings aimed at Pakistan but bombastic rhetoric is not going to reduce the violence in the Valley. Instead, the government should move swiftly to plug loopholes in our security grid to prevent infiltration and more attacks. It should probe how weapons are not only finding their way across the supposedly tightly guarded Line of Control but also escaping the attention of security forces manning checkpoints along highways. Aren’t vehicles checked thoroughly enroute? As unhelpful as the home minister’s response to the Pampore ambush is that of the security forces. Within hours of the attack, the army and the CRPF were locked in an unseemly battle over credit for killing the Lashkar militants. Worse, soldiers were busy clicking selfies with the bodies of the militants. Simultaneously, a blame game has erupted. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar fired the opening shot by alleging that the CRPF personnel – the CRPF comes under the Home Ministry – had ignored standard operating procedures, leaving the convoy vulnerable to attack. However, corridor protection for movement of convoys was assigned to the Indian Army’s Srinagar-based 15 Corps early this year. Did the army neglect sanitising the convoy’s route? The oversight proved costly. 

The rising number of militancy-related incidents in Kashmir in recent months is worrying. It cannot be dismissed as the usual surge in violence that is seen every summer as the attacks this summer are far more numerous and audacious than in the same period in previous years. India’s security forces must brace themselves for more attacks in the coming months. Better cooperation and coordination of operations among them will leave them and the country less vulnerable to militants and their backers across the border.

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(Published 28 June 2016, 17:57 IST)

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