Enemy our prey, mantra for snipers on Line of Control

Nowshera, October 12

For Army snipers donning camouflaged battle gear, “Dushman Shikaar, Hum Shikaari” is the duty mantra as they guard the highly sensitive Line of Control (LoC).

Ply boards with “Dushman Shikaar, Hum Shikaari” written on them dot pine tree tops on the foot tracks of patrolling parties and border woods along the LoC.

LoC snipers and soldiers, whose morale has gone up further post the surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), are out to give a befitting reply to any ceasefire violation by Pakistan and foil terrorist infiltration and border action team (BAT) attack.

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Pointing to a ply card motto nailed to a pine tree on a foot patrolling track along the three-tier fence, Sniper Ram Singh (name changed) said, “The enemy sitting across the Lakshman Rekha (LoC) is my prey and I am his hunter. We work as per this motto for those daring to cross this Lakshman Rekha.”

He and other snipers are highly trained and target-hitting soldiers meant to hit specific enemies daring to breach the LoC.

Like snipers, the motto is no different for jawans and officers monitoring the forward post. They undertake foot patrolling along the LoC amid electronic surveillance put to guard the Indo-Pak border in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district.

The sector falls opposite the Bhimbher district of PoK, where heavily armed special forces hit terror launch pads in pre-dawn surgical strikes last month.

The Nowshera sector with thick coniferous woods, deep valleys and rock-cut mountains is now a target of Pakistani soldiers post surgical strikes. It was once the biggest infiltration area as there were huge launch pads and terrorist training camps in the Bhimbher-Samahni-Nikyal belt across the LoC.

“We are most vigilant along the LoC. We cannot keep the LoC out of manual and electronic sight even for a moment. We cannot trust Pakistani soldiers. They feel insulted following the surgical strikes,” said another soldier at the forward post.

Showcasing electronic surveillance of the LoC, the company commander said, “We are keep a hawk eye on the LoC and forward posts and sensitive gaps on the border.”

“Even the movement of a cat is watched now through electronic gadgets. We cannot afford to give a chance to them,” the officer said.

Rocky mountain clips, dense forest lines and deep rock-cut valleys along the border are manned round-the-clock manually and electronically.

“Apart from continuous observation from forward posts and electronic observation rooms, there is manual patrolling and three-tier lit-up fencing to guard against infiltration and cross LoC raids,” he said.

Amid hostile weather conditions, the soldiers guard border posts and vow to safeguard the territorial boundaries at the cost of their lives.

Undeterred by continuous mortar shell blasts and rattle of heavy machine guns at their posts last week, jawans brave bad weather and inhospitable terrain to keep a strict vigil on the LoC in Poonch.

“Even during the recent heavily shelling and firing, we kept hawk eye vigilance on the LoC to foil any design of infiltration or any attack,” the officer said. The situation in the Poonch-Rajouri sector had deteriorated in the past week following the surgical strikes. — PTI