PM Modi Voices Concern Over Spate of Random Terror Attacks in Poonch-Rajouri Sector

PM Modi Voices Concern Over Spate of Random Terror Attacks in Poonch-Rajouri Sector

The Indian Army has confirmed that at least four groups of terrorists are operating in the Rajouri-Poonch sector and are affiliated with various terror groups based in Pakistan, despite Congress leader and former chief minister of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi characterizing last Saturday’s terror attack in Poonch as a political ploy by the BJP during the 2024 election campaign.

One IAF corporal was killed and four others were injured when terrorists used assault rifles and other local weapons to spray fire on three cars in the IAF convoy. The attackers were able to escape the scene. Terrorists from the same region across the Line of Control have carried out terror attacks on both civilians and members of the military forces in the Rajouri-Poonch sector, which is close to the Line of Control, during the last three years.

Top officials claim that electromagnetic monitoring in the region reveals the presence of about 12 terrorists, split up into four mixed-race “tanzeem” cells from Occupied Kashmir. The IAF convoy followed conventional operating standards, but the terrorists had the arrogance to attack the vehicle carrying armed troopers—obviously on orders from somewhere. The horrific scenario demonstrates how the terrorists ambushed the driver and the support workers by sneaking up on them in the last of the three vehicles and spraying bullets on the windshield. Four of Corporal Vicky Pahade’s IAF colleagues are currently undergoing medical attention at Command Hospital in Udhampur, while Corporal Pahade himself lost his life in the incident.

It is quite obvious that, given the terrain of the area, clearing this belt of terrorists will require a significant counter-terror operation that may result in casualties. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself is outraged by the senseless terror killings in the Rajouri-Poonch sector and has expressed his concern to the Indian Army’s top brass. Since the terrorists are native to the region and make their livelihood from it, the heavily wooded mountain environment makes for ideal conditions for asymmetric combat on both sides of the Line of Control.

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The Nagrota-based 16 Corps formation and the local police have not been able to eliminate the terrorists in the area, even though the Modi administration has given the military forces carte blanche to combat them in the Rajouri-Poonch sector. This has led to the infiltration and staging of terror strikes in the interior of the Union Territory by Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, both based in Pakistan.