THE ARMY WILL conduct a security audit of popular tourist areas in the Valley and consider redeployment of its existing troops in the hinterlands of Kashmir to areas marked vulnerable, The Indian Express has learnt. The exercise is part of the overall security plans to ensure the safety of tourists and an incident-free Amarnath Yatra. At least 26 people were killed by terrorists in an attack on Tuesday at Pahalgam’s Baisaran Valley. With summer approaching, a more dynamic deployment of troops in the higher reaches would be on the cards to prevent infiltration of terrorists from across the border and to deny them hideouts. Extensive patrols for operations and area domination across the Valley floor as well as in the higher reaches will be carried out as part of the summer strategy, the officials said. Temporary operating bases — where troops can operate for a fixed period of time, say 72-96 hours — will be put to maximum use so that security forces can dominate and carry out search operations in larger areas. Meanwhile, security forces in Kashmir continue to carry out massive search operations in Pahalgam and the surrounding areas to trace the terrorists involved in the attack. Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi visited Kashmir Friday to review the security situation in the valley. Officials told The Indian Express that the terrorists decided to target unarmed civilians due to their inability to strike security targets in the valley. “This was a surprise attack launched on vulnerable tourists in an isolated area, which is about 40 minutes away from the nearest operating base,” an official said. The official said the attack was launched at approximately 1430 hours, when there were fewer security forces available for a quick response. “It continued for about 30 minutes, giving the terrorists adequate time to flee from the spot before effective retaliation could be implemented,” he said. Security sources said Pakistan has increased its military deployment and strengthened its defences along the Line of Control, considering a possible retaliation from India. Intelligence reports have indicated there could be more internal disturbances fuelled with support from across the border to keep security forces engaged. “Infiltration bids continue to engage the Army at the LoC,” an official said. There are multiple anti-terror operations underway across the valley at present, the official said. Latest figures available with The Indian Express estimate a presence of 75 to 80 terrorists in the north of the Pir Panjal range in J&K, including over 50 foreign terrorists. In the south of the Pir Panjal range, an estimated 45-50 terrorists are present, including over 30 foreign terrorists. As per officials, the security review meetings held this year discussed the possibility of exfiltrated local terrorists coming back to J&K to strike high-value targets. “Most of them are better trained, exploit vantage positions, stay isolated and communicate with their handlers away from their hideouts and attack and escape. The OGW (overground worker) network is multi-layered,” an official who was part of the review meetings said. Sources said India is also aware Pakistan has deployed its troops in a strong defensive posture. The latest satellite images and all intelligence inputs will be corroborated and assessed to get the latest picture on Pakistan's deployment, they said, adding that all ceasefire violations by Pakistan will be responded to strongly. Sources indicated a concerted effort to de-glamorise terrorists, disrupt the terror ecosystem, and target terror funding were discussed in the review meetings. As part of that, the Army is working on enhancing anti-drone capabilities, anti-tunnelling work to prevent terrorists from infiltrating through tunnels, tackling sub-nationalist narratives in the cyber domain, as well as removing such literature from libraries.
