New Delhi: Noting that there will be zero tolerance to human rights violations by his soldiers, Army chief General Manoj Pande Thursday candidly admitted that the situation in the Rajouri-Poonch area in Jammu and Kashmir has been a “cause for concern”.
He also said that there were tactical lessons to be learnt from the series of setbacks in the region, which claimed the lives of 20 soldiers in the past year in ambushes by terrorists, and that the Army is studying tactics employed by the adversaries in the area.
Sources in the defence establishment told ThePrint that the group of terrorists operating in the Rajouri-Poonch area is very well-trained not just in the use of arms but also in setting up ambushes and gathering intelligence, besides capturing their attacks using a regular phone or body camera and using it later for propaganda.
Gen Pande, who was addressing the media during his annual press conference ahead of the Army Day, also said that Pakistan was playing an “active role” in aiding terrorists in the Poonch-Rajouri area, given that the security situation in the valley is improving.
The Army’s operations in the area, he said, “will continue in a relentless fashion”.
“In the last five to six months, in Rajouri and Poonch, there has been an increase in terrorism. This is an issue of concern. Terrorism in that area was eradicated in 2003 and peace was there till 2017-18. Because of the situation in the valley getting normal, this is one area, our adversaries have been active in, in terms of abetting terrorism, encouraging proxy tanzeems (groups) in operating in this area,” he said.
Giving statistics, he said that 45 terrorists were eliminated in the Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch area in the last three years, including 14 in the hinterland and six who were eliminated during five infiltration attempts thwarted by security forces. If one looks at all of J&K, a total of 71 terrorists were killed there in the past year including 52 in the valley, he said.
What concerns the Army is that while seven soldiers were killed in Kashmir during the same period, 20 were ambushed and killed — and in some cases mutilated — in the Rajouri-Poonch area.
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Intelligence gathering in Rajouri-Poonch
Identifying a lack of human and electronic intelligence as a hindrance to operations in the Rajouri-Poonch area, Gen Pande underlined the need for course correction in this regard. The Army is not the only agency generating human intelligence, the onus of which also rests with the J&K Police and other agencies including the Intelligence Bureau (IB), he said.
The Army, he added, is working closely with other agencies to put in place a more robust intelligence gathering and sharing mechanism.
These were among the nine points outlined by the Army chief which included an emphasis on outreach to local populations and respect for human rights.
He also said that the Army has enhanced deployment of troops and is in the process of reorienting specific units operating in the region for the last 5-7 months. The Army, said Gen Pande, is looking to make better use of technology in counter-terrorism operations.
The Army chief’s comments come in the wake of multiple terror attacks in the Poonch and Rajouri, including an ambush last month which led to the death of four soldiers.
Army adopts village of killed civilians
The Army chief also underlined that there will be zero tolerance for human rights violations by those in uniform.
“My guidance to commanders and soldiers on the ground is, respect for human rights. There will be zero tolerance for action in that account and standard operating procedures have been clearly laid down. This is something that I have emphasised and reimposed. Our operations in those areas will continue in relentless fashion,” he said Thursday.
Three civilians, among eight picked up by the Army for questioning in the aftermath of the Poonch ambush, were found dead last month. A case of murder was later registered against unidentified persons and the probe is still ongoing but the Army has already removed Brigadier P. Acharya, in charge of the Poonch sector, along with three other officers, to ensure a free and fair probe into the deaths.
“We have already taken follow-up action. The affected village has been adopted by the Indian Army,” Gen Pande said, referring to the village from where the civilians hailed.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)