The massive search operation conducted by the Indian Army in the dense forests of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch and Rajouri districts against holed-up terrorists on Wednesday entered the tenth day wherein nine army personnel were killed in two separate attacks last week. However, officials aware of the development said, there was no contact with the terrorists as the joint search parties of the army and special operations group of local police moved cautiously in the dense forests of Mendhar and Surankote in Poonch and Thanamandi in Rajouri, clearing a vast area during the day.
Loud explosions and gunfire rattled Bhatta Durrian earlier during the day which turned out to be the speculative fire used by the search parties to sanitise a suspected location deep inside the forest belt in Mendhar. The army had on Tuesday intensified the operation against the holed-up terrorists in Bhatta Durrian forest in Mendhar, where the locals were asked not to venture out of their homes.
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On the same day, Army Chief General M M Naravane had visited forward areas along the LoC to review the ground situation and ongoing counter-infiltration operations. The operation in the forest areas in the twin border districts commenced on October 11 when terrorists ambushed a search party killing five soldiers including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) in the Surankote forest of Poonch before another gunfight in nearby Thanamandi on the same day. The terrorists fled both places after the encounters. On October 14, the terrorists struck again and killed four soldiers including a JCO in Nar Khas forest in Mendhar as the security forces extended the cordon and search operation to neutralize the fleeing terrorists.
But this is not the first time such an anti-terror operation was conducted in areas of Jammu and Kashmir for longer days. The last such a massive operation was conducted in 2003.
Hil Kaka Strikes in 2003
Hil Kaka area of Surankote in the Poonch district was filled with Pakistani militants way back in early 2000. Many militants from – the Lashkar e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Al-Badr, and some other terror groups – had entered in Poonch through the LoC and hide at Hil Kaka, a Bakerwal village in Surankote tehsil, about 10-12 km inside the LoC. These terrorists had made the village into their own fortress and had converted hundreds of cattle sheds, used by the Bakerwal for their animals, into bunkers erected with concrete and stones. They also built a hospital for themselves and stored rations in such bunkers to feed 500 men for about two months, as reported by The Indian Express.
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It is being reported that the Pakistani militants used to ran an administration in the area. But things changed in 2003, when the Indian Army decided to carry out an anti-terror operation in the area. In a unique operation ‘Sarp-Vinash’ in 2003, the locals fought alongside the Indian Army to flush out the terrorists from this region and bring normalcy.
The Army carried out Operation Sarp Vinash (Snake Destroyer) between April and May 2003. According to the Indian Army, 62 terrorists were gunned down and the security forces recovered AK-47 rifles, PIKA guns, sniper rifles, grenade launchers, self-loading rifles, explosives, and a large number of radio sets and other communications equipment, as reported by The Indian Express.
Unfortunately, the two Army soldiers lost their lives.
During this operation, the government of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir had given Rs 7.5 crore, a compensation package, to the Bakerwal herders who were asked to stay away from the area.
Anti-terror Operation in 2009
A search operation was conducted by security forces in 2009 as well in the same area. Poonch, which is located near the Line of Control (LoC), had witnessed a nine-day-long operation against terrorists from January 1-9 in 2009. During this anti-terror operation, four army soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed. Moreover, four terrorists were said to have been gunned down. However, their bodies were not recovered from the encounter site. The operation was stopped after nine days.
(with inputs from PTI)
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