There has been "a quantum jump" in infiltration across the Line of Control (Loc) as well as terrorist violence in the hinterland in Jammu and Kashmir in the last three month-Army officers claim Pakistan is desperate to push in as many heavily armed militants as possible before snow blocks the mountain passes and traditional infiltration routes along the 740-km-long LoC. Anticipating more 'fidayeen' (suicide) and "stand-off" terrorist attacks against "high-value" targets in the coming days, the army does not want to reduce force levels in J&K. Army vice-chief, Lt-Gen Shantonu Choudhary, said on Wednesday that Islamabad had "revived" terrorist-training camps in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"We have photographic evidence of this," Lt-Gen Choudhary said, rejecting Pakistan ""President Gen Pervez Musharraf's claim that his government had clamped down on "je-hadis".
The Army also has other "evidence" to show an estimated 3,000 terrorists are being trained in these camps, with Lashkar-e-Toiba and other "tanzims" running scores of recruitment centres. LeT district commander Mohammed Shahzad, captured in Banihal on September 13, for instance, has given a detailed account of this.
Latest army statistics show the total number of terrorist incidents have shot up from 130 in September 2002 to almost 180 in just the first half of this month. The comparative figures for July and August have also jumped by 70 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.
Similarly, the number of IED (improvised explosive device) blasts have registered a sharp increase. Compared to four IED blasts in September 2002, over 15 have already taken place this-month. The security forces, of course, are also notching up more successes against terrorists. The "kill ratio" has improved, with roughly five terrorists being killed for every soldier.
Ninety-two militants, including some key leaders like Gazi Baba and Nasir Mehmood Ahwan Ansar" of' Jaish-e-Mohammad, have been killed by the security forces so far this month. In all, around 560 militants have been killed since January.
With a large number of battlefield
surveillance radars and hand-held thermal imagers now being inducted, which
can detect movement almost 2.5 to eight km away, army troops are also better
equipped to detect infiltration bids across the LoC.