16 security personnel among 47 killed in Rajouri-Poonch this year

After Operation ‘Sarp Vinash’ was undertaken by the army to flush out terrorists in the Hilkaka Poonch-Surankot area of Poonch in 2003, peace returned to the region. But, militancy started rearing its ugly head in Rajouri and Poonch districts in 2020.

While militancy in Kashmir valley is on the decline, twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region are emerging as new hotspots of terrorism with 47 people, including 24 terrorists, 16 security personnel, and seven civilians killed this year.

The dead included four army officers, including two captains, who lost their lives in an ongoing anti-terror operation in the Bajimaal area of Rajouri.

27 people, including nine terrorists, 11 security personnel, and seven civilians, have been killed in Rajouri this year while 15 terrorists and five security personnel were killed in Poonch district.

Most of the terrorists were killed while attempting to sneak into this side of the border, officials said. The uptick in the encounters was a result of counter-terror operations by security agencies to scuttle repeated attempts from across the border to revive militancy in the Jammu region and to ease pressure on the terrorists operating in Kashmir.

After Operation ‘Sarp Vinash’ was undertaken by the army to flush out terrorists who had made bases in the Hilkaka Poonch-Surankot area of Poonch during April-May 2003, peace had returned to the region. But militancy started rearing its ugly head in Rajouri and Poonch districts in 2020.

South of Pir Panjal range, where Rajouri and Poonch districts lie, has a hilly terrain spread over 4,304 square kilometres with the Line of Control meandering along the two border districts that to date remains the most preferred route of infiltration for Pakistani terrorists.

This year, 124 people, including 83 terrorists and 28 security personnel, have been killed in militancy-related violence in Jammu and Kashmir. The dead include an Army Colonel and a Deputy Superintendent of Police who lost their lives in a week-long operation in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district in September.