Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 26: As there was early snowfall along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir yesterday, Army said militants will make desperate attempts to infiltrate into Kashmir before the passes close for winter.
General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Army’s 15 Corps, Lt General Satish Dua, said here that there will be a desperate bid from militants to infiltrate into Kashmir before the mountain passes are blocked with winter snow.
“Almost all the infiltration attempts are getting frustrated. There, however, will be a push by infiltrators, the last ditch effort, before the passes close,” Lt Gen Dua said.
The GOC said that the counter infiltration grid is very strong, which is preventing militants from crossing into Indian territory.
The 400 kilometre long LoC in Kashmir had season’s first snowfall yesterday and around 1-2 feet snow accumulated on mountains peaks and passes. However, an army officer said that this snow will not deter militants from making infiltration attempts.
The officer said that militants will make last ditch efforts before the heavy snowfall closes the passes for winter. He said that there will be increase in the infiltration attempts in coming weeks for which Army is already ready.
The Army officer said that they have intensified patrolling, operation and surveillance along the LoC so that militants are denied entry into Kashmir. He said that this is crucial phase and Army is maintaining alertness along the LoC.
The army recently said that over 300 militants are waiting on the launch pads near the LoC in PoK for infiltration. They have also reports that besides this there are large numbers of militants in 16 training camps in the PoK.
Lt General Dua said there has been a spurt in the number of local Kashmiris joining the militancy. He said there are 229 militants at present active in Kashmir, 51 of whom are foreigners. “More locals are joining… there are seven foreign terrorists in South Kashmir and 44 in North Kashmir,” he added.
On ISIS, the GOC said that Army is watching the growing interest for the ISIS with concern in Kashmir. “Army is watching the growing interest for ISIS with concern, all the agencies are working at it and it will be controlled. A synergised effort is being made by all the security agencies to control the trend”, he said.
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