Democracy terrorised in Jammu and Kashmir; intelligence failure blamed

A group of six heavily armed fidayeens attack the army's 31 Field Regiment camp, which houses Bofors and other artillery guns, at Mohra in Uri. Eight soldiers, three policemen and six terrorists killed. Jammu and Kashmir police kill two top Lashkar-e-Toiba militants in the Soura area of Srinagar. When militants fired upon a patrolling party in Awanta Bhawan area of Soura, forces retaliated. In the retaliatory fire, one militant was killed. Though the other took shelter in a shed, he too was killed. An explosion outside Shopian police station. But it did not cause any damage to life or property. Police said it was a smoke grenade explosion. No one was injured, Militants hurl hand grenade near the Tral bus stand, killing two civilians and injuring 9. 

How did militants get into the army camp?

A group of six heavily armed fidayeens trekked through the mountains and crossed a nallah and cut the barbed wire fencing of the 31 Field Regiment camp of the army and got in. Sources said the militants seemed to have been well-trained with a proper plan. They divided themselves into small groups and spread across the camp to launch multiple attacks to inflict maximum casualties.

How did the army retaliate?

The militant attack did take the army by surprise. But soon crack teams started a calibrated operation to flush out the militants. “Troops from the camp retaliated. Forces from neighbouring camps, who were already in a state of high alert, immediately mobilised their Quick Reaction Team (QRTs) and surrounded the area. In the ensuing firefight, all six terrorists were eliminated,” Colonel SD Goswami, defence spokesman, Northern Command, said.

Which terrorist organisation was behind the attack?

One of the slain militants in the second attack has been identified as Qari Asrar of Lashker-e-Toiba. He was functioning as a district commander. Asrar was an active member of the LeT central Kashmir Huraira Group. He was involved in a number of attacks, including one on Hotel Silver Star on Nowgam by-pass in October 2012. 

Was it an isolated attack?

Army sources said the militants seemed to have been on a long haul, given the amount of arms and ammunition they were carrying. Six AK rifles with 55 magazines, two shotguns, two night vision binoculars, four radio sets, 32 unused grenades, one medical kit and a large quantity of miscellaneous equipment were recovered from them.

Do the attacks signal anything?

The attacks come just three days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first poll rally in the separatist stronghold of Srinagar city. The attacks were launched in the areas, which are going to polls in next two phases. Baramulla district is going to polls in the third phase on December 9 and Srinagar on December 14. The first and second phase of polling in the state were peaceful and incident-free and these attacks are seen as a desperate attempt by militants to stop the march of democracy in J&K.

Was there an intelligence failure?

Intelligence agencies seemingly failed to track down their movement before they could storm the camp. The huge casualties on the side of security forces clearly show the security lapse. MM Khajooria, former director-general of police, told dna, “They (army) need to look at two things: to see how they managed to come and whether there was any weakness in defence parameters.”