The nature of its terrain and proximity to the LoC makes Bandipora a favoured launch pad of the militants.
The nature of its terrain and proximity to the LoC makes Bandipora a favoured launch pad of the militants.
BANDIPORA: This sleepy town has now become a new corridor of terror in Kashmir. Dreaded terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Tayiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammad are using Bandipora as the launching pad for creating subversion in the valley.
According to sources, LeT has set up strong bases in the dense forests of Bandipora, giving sleepless nights to the security forces operating in the area. LeT’s Kashmir chief Salah-ud-din alias Bilal is reported to be hiding in Bandipora and supervising all militant activities in the valley. Police says recent grenade and fidayeen attacks in the valley have some links with Bandipora because of the presence of militant top brass in the area.
“The terrain is such that militants find it easy to hide and evade the gaze of security forces. The militants use the difficult terrain to their advantage and hide in the upper reaches of Bandipora. The area is also close to the Gurez sector which is not far from the Line of Control (LoC) giving an added advantage to militants,” said Viplaw Kumar, senior superintendent of police, Baramulla district.
Kumar said the security forces have mounted pressure on the militants and that is why several ultras were killed in different encounters. “We do mount pressure on the ultras. And that is why we have got success in the recent days,” he said.
The informers and civilians are facing the brunt of the high concentration of militants. “Though civilians as such are not the targets, militants kill some on suspicion of working for the security forces,” Kumar said.
According to the figures released by the army, there are around 1,300 to 1,400 ultras operating in the Kashmir Valley. The number includes 1000 listed militants and 45 per cent of them comprises of foreigners.
Worried by the reports about Bandipora becoming the hot bed of militancy, general officer commanding (GoC) of 15 corps Gen SS Dhillon said the army has launched a special operation to flush out the ultras in the area. “We have started our special operations against the ultras and we have got some success. We will cleanse the area soon,” he said.
Defence spokesman Lt Col Vijay K Batra said along with Bandipora, Shopian in south Kashmir is also becoming some sort of a transit point for the ultras. “We cannot call them hotbed of militancy but a kind of transit points for the militants. Whenever we get information we do act and engage the ultras in an encounter. So many ultras have been killed,” he said.
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