The Indian army along with the security apparatus of Jammu and Kashmir which includes Jammu and Kashmir Police is continuing ‘Operation Trinetra’ in Pir Panjal region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The counterinsurgency operation comes in wake of two dastardly attacks on the Indian army in which ten army troopers have lost their lives in Rajouri-Poonch region in the last two months.
An army official said that the Army Headquarters has laid the law on the SOPs in the militancy hit districts to avoid any further casualties to the formations involved in CT duties.
“The insistence that SOPs cannot be ignored has been passed on to the 16 Corps Commander and the 25 Division commander under whose jurisdiction is the entire Rajouri-Poonch sector,” the official said.
He said that the post attack analysis of both the incidents showed that the terrorists could have got back better response and lives saved had the troopers followed the laid down procedure on deployment and patrolling in militant infested areas.
“The Jammu and Kashmir Police and other security agencies in Kashmir are fully cooperating with the Indian army. These security agencies are part and parcel of our operations,” the official said.
Pertinently, there were two attacks on the Indian Army in Rajouri-Poonch region. The first attack took place when the militants attacked an Army vehicle at Bhatta Dhurian in Poonch on April 20.
The second attack took place when the militants laid an ambush in Kesari Hill in Rajouri sector on May 5.
The Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande has visited the incident site with Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi making multiple visits to the Rajouri-Poonch sector as late as last Saturday.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in Poonch-Rajouri sector a day after May 5.
“The Indian Army lost five troopers each in both the encounters including four of them belonging to the elite 9 Paratrooper battalion,” the official said.
The army official said that the Army Headquarters has had a hard talk with both the Northern Army Command and the 16 Corps commanders to underscore the importance of laid down standard operating procedures by formations involved in counter-insurgency operations.