To flush out terrorists in Rajouri-Poonch, ‘Operation Sarvashakti’ relies on human intelligence

Srinagar: To counter rising terror activities in border Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, the Army is launching ‘Operation Sarvashakti’, where terrorists operating on both sides of the Pir Panjal mountain ranges in the Union Territory (UT), will be targetted.

The focus of the operation, sources said, will be on stepping up human intelligence while going ahead, with use of technology to flush out terrorists who have been involved in a series of ambushes on the army in the last more than two years, in Rajouri and Poonch, also known as Pir Panjal range.

“In the recent years, technology centric operations against terrorists took center-stage across the UT. This lessened the dependence of security agencies on human intelligence though it wasn’t completely over,” they said and added the adversary too took advantage of technology in keeping locations of the terrorists’ secret.

Sources said less dependence on human intelligence was one of the main reasons for terrorists escaping after carrying out deadly attacks on the army and hiding in dense forest areas. “Mobile phones without SIM cards are reported to have been used by the terrorists to avoid tracking their location,” they said.

Last week, Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande had rued “lack of human intelligence” as one of the key factors crippling the force’s anti-terror operations in Rajouri-Poonch. To win back the confidence of locals, the army adopted Topa Peer village in Poonch, where three civilians were killed allegedly in army custody on December 21.

Sources said a group of 12-18 heavily armed and highly trained terrorists were operating in three to four groups in the Rajouri-Poonch areas, who are also experts in setting up ambushes, capturing their attacks using a regular phone or body camera and using it later for propaganda.

The other aspect of the ‘Operation Sarvashakti’ will be additional deployment of troops on both the sides of the Pir Panjal region. Troops from the Srinagar-based 15 Corps and the Nagrota-based 16 Corps will be operating in tandem, along with other agencies and paramilitary forces, as part of the operation to wipe off terrorists sponsored by Pakistan.

The operation will be on the lines of ‘Operation Sarpvinash’, which was launched against terrorists south of the Pir Panjal range in the summer of 2003. Reportedly 64 terrorists were killed in the operation during which the system of hideouts used by the terrorists was found to be the largest ever in the known history of insurgency in J&K.