Security agencies to use Kashmir-like strategy to finish militancy in Jammu areas

To curb rising incidents of militancy in twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu, security agencies are contemplating to adopt the same strategy that was used in Kashmir.

The twin districts here have seen a relative surge in terror-related incidents over the last three years. The attacks in the twin districts also known as Pir-Panjal region since October 2021 have been high-impact incidents that have ended up inflicting the maximum damage.

A total of 26 army personnel, including three officers and five paratroopers, and seven civilians have been killed in less than three years in the region.

A senior police officer said like Kashmir, the security agencies are going to invest heavily in enhancing border management along the Line of Control with Pakistan in the twin district to ensure there is no infiltration.

Measures such as fencing, electronic surveillance, sensors and increased patrolling helped to check, if not curb infiltration of militants from across the LoC in Kashmir. At the same time, security forces launched massive counter insurgency operations to neutralise active militants and dismantle over ground worker (OGW) networks operating in Kashmir.

“Operations in Kashmir focused on identifying, apprehending or eliminating militants, disrupting their networks, and preventing infiltration across the LoC. This was backed by heightened intelligence gathering and surveillance to detect and pre-empt militant activities,” the officer said.

He said that earlier, they used to track down militants by intercepting the signals of their communication devices such as wireless sets, satellite and mobile phones. “But now they (militants) use offline apps to communicate among themselves and with their masters across the LoC, which makes it harder for us to track them,” he added.

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha corroborated that the strategy adopted by security and Intelligence agencies to finish militancy in Kashmir will also be used in the twin border districts.

“Our focus was on Kashmir where we had adopted a 360 degree approach to maintain peace. We succeeded to a large extent. Jammu earlier was peaceful but Rajouri and Poonch districts witnessed unfortunate incidents,” Sinha said.

Sources in the security establishment said one of the reasons why they may have not been able to anticipate the attacks is the drying up of the human intelligence which is very important in counter-insurgency operations.

“Even with all their reliance on gadgets and smart ways to avoid surveillance, ultimately, they have to come out of forests or down the mountains to the nearest human settlement in order to get logistical support for their survival. That’s where, for us, the informers come in handy. But things have changed. While militants and their network of OGWs continue to exist, the informers are missing,” they added.