New Delhi: Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT) is behind the Reasi terror attack in Jammu on Sunday evening in which nine Hindu pilgrims enroute to Vaishno Devi were killed and another 33 injured after jihadists opened fire on the bus as a result of which the vehicle fell into a gorge.
On Sunday evening, LeT’s front TRF took credit for the dastardly attack to show that the terror attack was done by homegrown terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir and not foreign Islamists based in Lahore.
According to top official sources, the attack was carried out deliberately during the swearing-in ceremony of Modi 3.0 at Reasi and the perpetrators are around 12 jihadists moving inside the Rajouri-Poonch forests in groups of three or two in the Jammu region. This terrorist group includes a number of Pakistani nationals from across the LoC and there is a possibility of cross-LoC tunnel but this is hotly denied by the Indian security forces and the Indian Army.
In the past five years, the Poonch-Rajouri sector has seen a number of fire-fights between the Indian Army and the jihadists and the casualties on the Indian side have been high with terrorists having the advantage of surprise and swifter movement. The Modi government including Home Minister Amit Shah have taken the Reasi attack very seriously as the Amarnath yatra starts from June 29.
{{/usCountry}}In the past five years, the Poonch-Rajouri sector has seen a number of fire-fights between the Indian Army and the jihadists and the casualties on the Indian side have been high with terrorists having the advantage of surprise and swifter movement. The Modi government including Home Minister Amit Shah have taken the Reasi attack very seriously as the Amarnath yatra starts from June 29.
{{/usCountry}}Despite PM Modi himself conveying to the Indian Army to pull up their socks in Rajouri-Poonch sector, the results of counter-insurgency operations have been far and few due to hardy and forest terrain in the sector. In the past there have been reports of lack of synergy between the security forces in the 16 Corps sector, which apparently is being addressed by the new Northern Army Commander M V Suchindra Kumar.
While Bharat will retaliate to the Reasi attack in its own and befitting way, the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the para-military forces and the Indian Army must work as a hunt pack with actionable intelligence so as to neutralize this Pakistani group. India cannot afford to have either civilian or military casualties despite significant deployment in the Jammu sector.