SRINAGAR: Amid increasing ceasefire violations from across the Line of Control (LoC) on the Jammu side, a senior army officer on Thursday said the situation was “stable” on this side but the army’s response would be “firm and focused” whenever there are any such attempts.
“On the Kashmir front, we had two ceasefire violations. One on 30th September and 1st October night and the second time was on the 3rd and 4th October. After that the situation has been stable,” General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, Lt Gen Subrata Saha told PTI. He said though the areas on the LoC in Kashmir Valley have not witnessed ceasefire violations in the same manner as in Jammu region, the army would respond in a very firm and focused manner if such things take place here.
“I can comment about what is happening in the Kashmir region and not in Jammu. And in the Kashmir region, we haven’t had any such instances (of firing on civilian areas) and wherever occasions have come, I maintain that the response has to be very firm, it has to be focused.
“I maintain that whatever happens on the LoC, as in such ceasefire violations, they are tactical actions and are best dealt with tactically,” he said.
The Army Commander said ceasefire violations have “localised dynamics” and it was important to see through both the causes of the violations and the effects of the response. “Ceasefire violations have localised dynamics and the response has to be very firm, focused and, I should think, it has to be effect-based. Equally it is important that we see through the causes and the effects both,” he said. Asked whether BSF was effectively dealing with the ceasefire violations in certain sensitive areas along the LoC and International Border (IB), Lt Gen Saha said “as far as the Kashmir region is concerned, on the LoC, the BSF battalions operate as part of the army. So the arrangement in Kashmir is pretty fine”.
He said there is an attempt from across the LoC to carry out infiltration and about 200 militants were waiting to infiltrate into the Valley.
“If you have seen, right through the month of September, while the Kashmir region was suffering because of the absolutely unprecedented floods, we had several attempts of infiltration and each one of that attempt has been foiled.
“And during this duration from 1st September till now, 18 terrorists have been killed, of which majority have been killed on the LoC while they were trying to infiltrate. So, clearly there is an attempt to carry out the infiltration and clearly there are numbers that are there across. And our assessment is that it is anything between 180 to 200 that are waiting to infiltrate,” he said.
Lt Gen Saha said most of the infiltration attempts have been along the LoC in north Kashmir’s Kupwara District. (PTI)