Follow laid down counter-terror procedures, Army HQ’s stern message to Northern Command

After the Indian Army lost 10 troopers in terror attacks in Rajouri-Poonch region in the past two months, the Army Headquarters has had 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.

The Indian Army along with security agencies and Jammu and Kashmir Police is currently conducting full scale “Operation Trinetra” to flush out terrorists of Pakistan in the Pir Panjal region particularly after the terror attack on Army vehicle at Bhatta Dhurian in Poonch on April 20 and at an ambush in Kesari Hill in Rajouri sector on May 5 in the run-up to Srinagar G20 meeting on May 22-24. The Indian Army lost five troopers each in both the encounters including four of them belonging to the elite 9 Paratrooper battalion. Since the two incidents, 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.

While Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security situation in Poonch-Rajouri sector a day after the May 5 incident and pumped the morale of the troops involved in CT operations, the Army Headquarters laid the law on the SOPs in the terror 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 post attack analysis of both the incidents showed that the terrorist could have got back better response and lives saved had the troopers followed the laid down procedure on deployment and patrolling in terrorist infested areas.

Both the Poonch and Rajouri attacks were carried out by Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Toiba’s Habibullah Malik aka Sajid Jutt’s module based in Kotli in Occupied Kashmir. Jutt, who has been involved in terrorist recruitment and weapons drop through drone in Poonch, has been designated as a Pakistani terrorist under the UAPA by the Home Ministry. He is married to a Kashmiri Muslim, who has moved to Pakistan, and has a son living in the Valley.

While the Indian Army has launched a deliberate operation in the 16 Corps sector to ensure minimum casualties, the military aided by security agencies and the UT police are committed to avenge the killing of 24 troopers in this area since 2021 along with number of civilian casualties.