Small Units Of Jaish, LeT Involved In Jammu Terror Attacks In Last Two Years: Report

Following an extensive analysis of all assaults since October 2021, security forces now believe that a maximum of two groups, consisting of terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, are involved in the ambushes that have killed about 25 personnel in the last two-plus years.

One of the groups is believed to consist of only two individuals, including a Pakistani terrorist while the second group is thought to have between three to five members, led by a highly-trained commander, Indian Express reported citing sources in the security establishment.

Overall in the Jammu-Poonch-Rajouri region, the security forces suspect the presence of around 15-20 Pakistani terrorists.

Since October 2021, the Army has neutralized around 30 terrorists, most of whom were Pakistani. However, during the same period, they have also suffered the loss of around 30 personnel, including officers.

One of the two groups, which is now believed to be dormant, is suspected to have initiated the initial series of shootouts with the armed forces that commenced on 11 October 2021.

These clashes notably began in the Dehra ki Gali forests, the same location where the recent ambush took place on 21 December.

In this, five Indian Army personnel were killed while resting in a tent after conducting an intelligence-brd search operation.

The subsequent search for the terrorists in the forests led to the death of an additional four soldiers over the following week in the nearby Bhata Dhuria forests.

The next major attack in the region took place only on August 11, 2022, when terrorists stormed the Pargal camp of the Indian Army in Rajouri and killed four soldiers.

The suspicion is that ambushes following this have been executed by the other group.

The commander heading this group along with his team has hitherto avoided taking shelter in the houses of locals, which often leads to such operatives being arrested or killed within a few months of infiltration, an armed forces officer posted in Jammu told The Indian Express.

The officer explained that this group resides in caves within the jungle, seldom venturing out. They don't utilize dhuks, a type of temporary shelter used by hill shepherds.

Interaction with local inhabitants is kept to a bare minimum, limited to securing essential supplies such as food and gas cylinders. The group's leader doesn't engage directly with the courier; instead, his associate communicates the necessary instructions. The local helpers then leave the requested items at a predetermined location in the jungle, and the group retrieves them at a time and day that suits them.

In the past eighteen months, several locals have been detained and questioned by security forces. However, none appear to have encountered the commander or are familiar with his name, not even an alias.

In May 2022, the Army's paratroopers, acting on intelligence received, set up an ambush in the Kandi forest, anticipating a group's arrival to collect their food supplies.

However, the group did not show up for at least three days. On 5 May, a shootout ensued between the group and the paratroopers, in which five Indian Army men were killed.

The group interacts internally or with local backup using a radio frequency messaging system.

“The messages in this are encrypted and cannot be intercepted. Efforts to zero in on the location of their devices have been futile as it often shows in a range of one square kilometer. It’s counter-productive to do an operation based on such diffused coordinates,” a security establishment officer said.

“During ambushes, the group rarely uses burst fire. They seem to be trained to hold their nerve in a gunfight and conserve bullets unlike the fidayeen who come and fire randomly,” a defence sources was quoted as saying in the IE report.

Officers, however, pointed out that the commander appears to have a penchant for publicity.

“He sometimes roams around villages and gets his pictures clicked from behind and puts them on his propaganda channel. He has already been shooting videos of the ambushes. We will get this group soon,” an officer said.

Since 2020, Pakistan has been attempting to destabilise the Jammu region by increasing the number of terrorists in the area and focusing attacks on both the armed forces and the Hindu community.

This has led to a relatively larger number of encounters with foreign terrorists. These efforts have been aided by the reduction of armed forces in the region due to the situation on the Sino-India border.