Army plugs gaps after rise in infiltration bids

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 27

With many militants managing to sneak into the Valley from across the Line of Control (LoC), the Army is taking “massive measures to plug the loopholes and gaps in the fence.”

Despite a robust counter-infiltration grid, officials said over 80 militants, mostly from the Lashkar-e-Toiba, have managed to sneak into the Valley this year. At least 67 militants have also been killed along the LoC while trying to infiltrate.

While the Army admitted that some infiltration had taken place largely because of the state of the LoC, they were taking major steps to plug the loopholes and gaps.

“The state of the border, the LoC, is very difficult. It is a very difficult terrain and due to bad weather, the visibility drops phenomenally. So, some infiltration does occur and the terrorists do manage to come through. So, this is one of the situation which we do face,” General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen JS Sandhu said. “But, I will like to assure you that we are taking very major steps to plug the loopholes and gaps along the LoC. There is a better technology being brought in for counter-infiltration. Smart components are being brought in. So, we will be able to achieve better success rate in counter-infiltration also.”

Over the years, the Army has been using high-power cameras, thermal sensing cameras, surveillance radars and the state-of-the-art long-range reconnaissance and observatory system (LORROS) to detect movement along the LoC in J&K. These gadgets give technical data to the soldiers on ground to carry out targeted operations against infiltrators. The Army has also been using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to monitor the frequent infiltration routes of militants.

Defence sources said the quality of surveillance was being upgraded along the LoC.

“It is always our constant endeavour to improve the surveillance technology. However, no fresh induction is being done in the counter-infiltration grid,” the sources said.

With winter intensifying fast, the Army believes that Pakistan may push more militants before the heavy snowfall cuts off the infiltration routes for the next four or five months.

Going hi-tech along LoC

Over the years, the Army has been using high-power cameras, thermal sensing cameras, surveillance radars and the state-of-the-art long-range reconnaissance and observatory system to detect movement along the LoC in J&K. These gadgets give technical data to the soldiers on ground to carry out targeted operations against infiltrators.