From Doda and Kathua to Poonch, terrorist tactics reveal worrying trend

Eleven security forces personnel have reportedly lost their lives in action during 2024 alone

Security forces have witnessed a death toll of 51 personnel in the Jammu region between 2021 and now, including the killing of three jawans and a captain on Tuesday during a gunfight with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's (J&K's) Doda district, with the high number of casualties being caused by the forces either being ambushed during normal operations or being lured into one, reported ThePrint on Tuesday.

According to the report, which analysed data shared by security agencies and open-source information, in 2024 alone, 11 security forces personnel lost their lives — four Army soldiers in Doda, five soldiers in Kathua in July, one Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel in Poonch in May, and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel in June.

 

The total casualties among security forces came down to five in 2022, from 14 in 2021, but once again shot up to 20 in 2023. The Indian Army's 9 Para SF special forces also witnessed eight casualties in 2023.

While 62 terrorists have been killed in the Jammu region since 2021, 51 security personnel and 19 civilians have lost their lives in the same period, the report said, citing sources in the security establishment.

While the majority of the 62 terrorists killed since 2021 were neutralised in Poonch and Rajouri, mostly while attempting infiltration, the majority of deaths among the security forces happened in the hinterland during ambushes set up by a group of already infiltrated terrorists, said the report, citing an unnamed source.

Before the spate of attacks in recent years, the Jammu division had been peaceful for nearly 15 years. However, the report said that a pattern involving a relatively new terror tactic has emerged since 2020, with security forces either being ambushed during normal operations or being lured into one.

Last week's fatal ambush on a two-truck military patrol in J&K's Kathua district, where five Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer, were killed and five others injured, also saw heavily-armed terrorists hurl a grenade and open indiscriminate fire on the forces. The attack took place on the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar mountainous road near the Badnota village, about 150 kilometres (km) from the Kathua district headquarter.

According to a national daily report, the terrorists, believed to be three in number, took positions at two spots on a hill and used the thick foliage there for cover. From there, they ambushed the troops when the military trucks were negotiating a bend on the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar road.

The ambushed troops reportedly retaliated immediately, fighting back till the terrorists disappeared into the dense woods.

Kashmir Tigers, a shadow group of Pakistan-backed terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), claimed responsibility for the Kathua ambush.

The terrorist attack on an IAF convoy in the Poonch district in May also highlighted this worrying trend.

After the ambush, the five injured IAF personnel were rushed to the Udhampur Command Hospital, where one of the injured airmen succumbed to his injuries.

Citing unnamed sources, a national daily had reported that the IAF convoy truck that was targeted was the last of three vehicles that was travelling from Jaranwalli Gali to Shahistar Top, where the IAF has a base.

The terrorists had reportedly taken up positions atop the hills along the road. From this position, they opened fire on the targeted vehicle, after the first two had passed.

After the terrorists struck the front windscreen of the vehicle, which made it stop, they injured the IAF personnel by opening fire on the side of the vehicle. When the IAF personnel retaliated, the terrorists fled into the nearby forests.

In December, another ambush had led to the death of four Army soldiers near Topa Pir on the Dehra Ki Gali-Buffliaz road in the Poonch district. During that attack, too, the terrorists had taken up positions on the nearby hills and opened fire on the vehicles carrying the security forces, said the report.

During another ambush attack near Bhatta Durrian in April last year, the terrorists had once again taken up positions on the hills along NH-144A to attack an Army truck.

The locations of all these three attacks fell within a radius of about 40 Km, highlighted the national daily.