Across the Pir Panjal

SOMETIME IN JANUARY of the year 2000, a diminutive man in Kashmir informed a terrorist commander that he wanted to travel to Pakistan. The man, Noor Tantray, was a close associate of Ghazi Baba (who later planned the Parliament attack). Tantray wanted to meet Masood Azhar who had just been freed by the Indian authorities in exchange for the hostages of the hijacked IC-814 flight. Immediately after his release, Azhar had reached Pakistan and launched his own terrorist organisation, the Jaish-e-Mohammed.

Normally, such random requests would not be entertained, especially coming from people with disability—reaching Pakistan meant crossing the treacherous mountain passes along the Line of Control (LoC) that required a physical fitness Tantray did not possess. But considering his importance in the terrorist ecosystem, it became difficult to say no to him.

In April that year, Tantray found a man waiting at his residence in Tral in South Kashmir. He had instruc­tions for Tantray to reach Poonch in the Jammu region, along the LoC, from where he would be made to cross. The Kargil War had happened less than a year earlier, and many Army troops stationed in these parts had to be re­located to that part of Jammu and Kashmir. The reduced surveillance had made crossing the border relatively easy. Tantray followed the instructions. He was accompanied by a group of foreign terrorists. After several weeks, they reached Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and from there Pakistan. Tantray managed to meet Azhar and spend some time in the elite terrorist training facili­ties in Afghanistan. Six months later, Tantray took the same path back. From Poonch, they took the Pir Panjal mountain range to final­ly cross over into South Kashmir.

Two decades later, Jaish men have taken advantage of a similar situation to revive militancy in Poonch. After the tension with China along the Sino-Indian Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Galwan Valley in 2020, a signifi­cant number of soldiers involved in counterinsurgency (CI) operations along the Poonch-Rajouri axis were moved there. This resulted in disengagement with the local population, weakening intelligence gathering in the region. “The forces had good intelligence in villages and a detailed mapping of the area. Suddenly, these inputs stopped coming,” said an officer working with Military Intelligence (MI).

The Jaish leadership seemed to be aware of the thinning of troop deployment. They took advantage and made a group of terrorists enter by the same path Tantray had taken in 2000. “Un­like local Kashmiris who lack training, these are highly trained men who have received training in Afghanistan,” says a senior Army officer, who was till recently posted in South Kashmir. This group struck on the first day of 2023, killing seven members of the Hindu minority in the region’s Dangri village.

“This should have set the alarm bells ringing and we should have strengthened our CI grid there, but it did not happen,” said the MI officer. A new group that called itself PAFF took responsibility, but security agencies believe it is just Jaish with a new mask.

SECURITY AGENCIES SAY it is part of a concerted effort to revive militancy in these parts that have remained terrorist-free since 2003, when the Army launched Operation Sarp Vinash to flush out a large group of foreign terrorists who had created big bunkers in the upper reaches. The operation in the region’s Hill Kaka had to be launched in phases that involved first creating helipad bases and mule tracks and then the evacuation of the civil­ian population, mainly the nomadic Gujjar community whose mountain dhoks (settlements) terrorists had converted into bun­kers. These numbered more than a hundred. The operation in­volved significant use of air-to-ground missiles, destroying these bunkers, resulting in the death of over 80 terrorists, whereupon a large number of them reportedly fled back to PoK.

After tension with China along the Line of Actual Control in the Galwan Valley in 2020, a number of soldiers involved in counterinsurgency operations along the Poonch-Rajouri axis were moved there. This resulted in disengagement with the local population, weakening intelligence gathering

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As the Jaish terrorists became confident, they started attacks on security forces, one in April and then in May, leading to the death of 10 soldiers, including those from the Army’s elite Special Forces. At some point in July, a breakaway group among these was believed to have reached South Kashmir. As a result, personnel of the Army’s 34 Rashtriya Rifles were sent to the upper reaches to set up a Tactical Operation Base (TOB) to monitor (and report) ter­rorist activity. The personnel were already under pressure because of heightened security due to the anniversary of the abrogation of Article 370 (August 5) and then In­dependence Day (when terrorists could launch an attack). As a result, troops sent for this job were taken by surprise and got ambushed by terror­ists, resulting in the death of three soldiers.

Sources in the Army say that more infiltration seems to have happened last year. But a senior source in the Army rued that there was general denial about this. “Nobody is willing to accept that the infiltration may have happened in their area,” he said. He termed it a “lack of courageous conviction”, which he attributes to the “narrow growth prospects” in the Army. “If you accept some­thing like this, it can mean that your career stops at the rank you are,” he said. This also means a far less effective way of handling what is already inside Indian territory. In November, the Northern Army Commander, Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, put the number of foreign terrorists in the region close to 25. He also pointed at the presence of retired Pakistani soldiers among them. He said it would take the Army at least a year to neutralise these terrorists. Earlier that month, a top commander, Quari, belonging to an­other Pakistan-based terrorist organisation, Lashkar-e-Taiba, was killed in a fierce encounter. But the Army also paid a heavy price, losing five personnel, including two officers, in the gun battle.

A month later, on December 21, the PAFF struck again, kill­ing four soldiers in an ambush. PAFF terrorists carry cameras on their bodies, releasing the footage of the ambush later. In this case, they are believed to have decapi­tated the fallen soldiers. Senior of­ficers in the area should have been more cautious about sending just one Gypsy and a truck without proper security backup. The possi­bility of an ambush was not taken into account.

Immediately after the attack, the security forces rounded up a few civilians on suspicion of helping the terrorists. It is not clear why the same unit that suffered these losses was given the opportunity to interrogate those people. Tempers ran high, and in a subsequent beat­ing, three civilians succumbed to their injuries. The Army top brass swung into action, relieving three senior officers of the 13 Rashtriya Rifles of their command. But the dam­age had been done. “There is no evidence of locals serving as the eyes and ears of these terrorists,” said the senior officer, adding, “There are indications that some local youth from Shopian (in South Kashmir) are helping them.” A local population that could have served the intelli­gence needs of the Army has been isolated due to the custodial deaths, making the force’s task even more difficult.

After the abrogation of Article 370, militancy in Kashmir Valley seems to have taken a beating. Having suffered a setback in the Valley, Jaish-e-Mohammed may turn the Jammu region into its new battlefield

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Since the latest attack, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has re­viewed the situation and directed forces to ensure better coordination and area domination in active zones. Many are urging that another Sarp Vinash-like operation may be required to flush out terrorists. While how that plays out is not clear yet, there is concern among agencies now that Pakistan-based terrorist organisations may become active in other militancy-prone areas of Jammu division, like Doda and Kishtwar. This, they say, should also be seen in the light of the post-Article 370 scenario in Kashmir Valley where militancy seems to have taken a beating. Having suffered a setback in the Valley, Jaish may turn Jammu (region) into its new battlefield.

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Rahul Pandita

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