Amid surge in attacks, Army chief reviews Jammu security situation

Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi last week reviewed operational situation in Jammu region, where urgent need to strengthen counter-terror grid as well as intelligence network has been driven home by a major surge in terrorism in recent months.
Gen Dwivedi, on a day-long visit to Jammu, was briefed on the internal security situation by his local formation commanders. He also chaired a top-level security review meeting with senior officers from J&K Police and CAPFs (central armed police forces) like BSF and CRPF, which went on for almost two hours.
“The action plan is to strengthen and readjust Army’s counter-terrorism grid, reinvigorate the intelligence network and enhance synergy with CAPFs and J&K Police,” a source said, adding, “The meeting resolved that there must be a serious focus on enhancing security and stability in the region. The discussions covered areas secured by security forces and the ongoing operations aimed at dismantling terrorist support networks.”
With lack of adequate “human and signal intelligence”, Army has suffered setbacks in operations against trained terrorists, who are equipped with modern weapons and highly-encrypted communication gear as well as adept military-style ambushes and traps, in the densely-forested mountainous terrain.
The Army chief’s visit comes after four soldiers, including Captain Brijesh Thapa, were killed in action during an encounter with terrorists in Doda on July 15-16. Intelligence inputs say 55 terrorists, mainly from Jaish-e-Mohammed, are active in Jammu region after successfully infiltrating across boundary with Pakistan and LOC. The Army, already over-stretched due to the deployments along the China and Pakistan borders, has moved over 3,000 more soldiers into Jammu, which includes a brigade headquarters, 3 infantry battalions & around 500 Para-Special Forces commandos, over last few days.