300 terrorists in 'groups of ten' waiting to enter J&K: Army

Jammu: The Army today said terrorists in groups of ten are trying to sneak inside Indian territory and attack troops at border posts. “250 to 300 terrorists in groups of ten or 20 are waiting to sneak inside Indian territory with inputs being that their concentration is maximum opposite Poonch,” General Officer Commanding (GoC) 19 Corps, Lt Gen D S Hooda told reporters on the sidelines of the inauguration of 220m long Battal bridge over Munawar Tawi river, which has been constructed by the BRO at a cost of Rs 12.5 crore. “There is an increase in their attempts across the Line of Control (LoC) targeting the posts, trying and disturbing our grid, so that they can infiltrate,” Lt Gen Hooda said while replying to a question about militant attacks or Border Action Team (BAT) infiltrations across the LoC. [caption id=“attachment_957233” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Encounter still on in Bemina, J&K. Image tweeted by ANI news.[/caption] “There are inputs that they (militants) want to come inside our territory for causing casualty to our troops at the border posts,” he said. The Coprs commander further said as per reports, there is no successful infiltration in Jammu region but it is difficult to give a surety that no infiltrator has been able to sneak inside Indian territory. In the past two months, border incidents, attempt of infiltration and IED blasts targeting our posts have increased, Lt Gen Hooda said. “Most infiltration bids made by terrorists have been foiled…Due to frustration, they are firing on our posts which are close to the border and also planting mines on the track (to target the troops),” he said. Inputs suggest there are more infiltrators close to Poonch border, he said.Hooda, who had earlier commented that the “border was tense”, said he had said so because of regular incidents happening along the LoC, affecting the local populace. “I had said tense because ceasefire violations, firing and incidents like placing a mine or an IED…if such things continue to happen, obviously there will be some tension,” he said. The Lt General, meanwhile, informed that incidents of infiltration have increased as compared to last year, but added that Army’s sole aim was to dominate the LoC and not allow intruders to sneak in. Asked about Chief Minister Omar Abdullah’s call for revocation of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), Hooda said, “I don’t want to comment on that. All those issues are to be tackled at the government level.” PTI