08 January,2009 11:58 AM IST | | Anshuman G Dutta
As troops battle terrorists, bunkers found inside forest
Seems, our Army and intelligence agencies have again failed to detect a Kargil-like intrusion into Indian territory.
According to sources in the Defence Ministry, several food packets and bunkers have been located in the forests near Battidhar village in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir where security forces have been battling militants for the last seven days.
"A search of the forests near the village has proved that the militants had been staying there for a long time. They had sufficient food and it can't be ruled out that they crossed over into India before the snowfall," said a Ministry of Defence (MoD) official, wishing not to be named.
Meanwhile, the Army has also detained a few villagers who were supposedly contacted by the militants before they entered Battidhar. "It would be wrong to call it a Kargil-like situation but the modus operandi is almost similar, just on a very small scale," added the officer.u00a0
The gun battle in the forests of Mendhar area erupted after the Army laid siege to the Pati Tar peak in the middle of a forest following a tip-off about the presence of a group of hardcore militants there.
After seven days into the operation, commandos from the special forces have also been pushed into action that was being conducted by men from the Rashtriya Rifles (RR). "There are almost 1,300 men involved in the operation. And there are at least 10 militants. But some of them have already been killed," said a senior officer from Jammu and Kashmir. He added that the Army has strengthened its cordon around the village. The weather and tough terrain are also hampering the military movement in the area.
Meanwhile, Defence Minister AK Antony expressed concern over infiltration in winter. "Jammu and Kashmir is snow-bound. Even then militants are trying to infiltrate and create trouble. If this is the case now, there will be more problems in summer. This proves we cannot lower our guard at any time.u00a0 We have to better equip our armed forces because after winter there will be more attempts of infiltration," he said.
However, defence sources have rubbished the claim of intelligence failure regarding the infiltration.
"It has become a habit to blame the intelligence but several factors have to be considered before saying something which may affect the morale of these professional agencies," said a senior Army officer posted in Jammu and Kashmir, wishing not to be named.
