Infiltration bid from snow-covered passes in Jammu and Kashmir?

New Delhi: Intelligence agencies have in an advisory sent to security forces, particularly the Army and BSF that guard the international border and the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir, alerted them to remain on high vigil as militants from across the border will try a major infiltration bid through snow-covered passes like in the Gurez sector.

With the onset of summer, the security forces usually shift focus to open passes that are cleared of snow. But the militants this time around are adopting this new modus operandi where they are deliberately trying to come through mountain passes covered heavily in snow to avoid detection by the security forces.

For this the militants are said to equipped with high quality European made snow clothes and shoes, processed food and dry fruits, state-of-the-art GPS and navigation equipment apart from sophisticated weapons. Intelligence sources confirmed that there was specific information that even though mountain passes in the Gurez sector were still covered with heavy snow, the militant deliberately want to come through that sector to avoid any kind of detection by security forces.

But following the intelligence inputs, security forces have substantially increased surveillance and deployment in not just the Gurez sector but other areas as well where snow still blocks the mountain passes. “Even though the summer season has already set in and snow has started clearing on some of the routes, the militants are still deliberately using those mountain passes where heavy snow is still present. This is a deliberate modus operandi to put the security forces on the wrong track. But with this timely input from intelligence agencies we have taken preventive steps,” a senior intelligence official said. Sources also claimed that intelligence inputs also reveal that militants are equipped with requisite paraphernalia.