New Delhi: Raising the threat level in Jammu & Kashmir’s Poonch area, the Ministry of Home Affairs has asked security forces to remain vigilant days after Pakistan-backed terrorists ambushed a security convoy killing one IAF personnel. Sources in the security establishment told ETV Bharat on Monday that the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) offshoot People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) might be involved in Saturday’s attack.
Significantly, the attack took place days after the Pakistan army chief General Syed Asim Munir raked up the Kashmir issue at the graduating parade of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Academy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “Lashkar operates behind the scenes and PAFF seems to be behind the attack,” sources said referring to the investigation report.
The threat levels in the area have been further raised. “The next 18-19 days are going to be tense,” sources said, referring to polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency. Polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency was earlier scheduled to take place on May 7, but has been rescheduled for May 25.
The Rajouri and Poonch districts have been re-drawn as the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency. What has worried the security agencies is the fact that the place in Poonch where the ambush took place is covered with dense forest and challenging topography.
Of the two vehicles, which came under attack, one belonged to the Air Force and the other to the Army. They were on their way to collect supplies from a facility located atop a small hill. The road leading to the facility is a narrow one and passes through a dense forest and two vehicles cannot travel parallelly.
“The dense plants and forest in the area have been a big hindrance for security forces while conducting operations and they have suffered heavy casualties in the region in the past two years,” another official said. Earlier also several incidents of terror attacks took place in the area. Last year, terrorists hiding in a cave atop a hill in the Poonch-Rajouri area killed five army personnel, including two special forces captains.
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