Five Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) were killed in action and as many were injured on July 8, 2024, when their vehicle was ambushed by the terrorists in the remote Machedi area of Kathua district in Jammu & Kashmir. The terrorists indeed got lucky as they targeted a soft top vehicle with sophisticated grenades (thermobaric one, first-of-its-kind in J&K) and sniper fire. A terror group called Kashmir Fighters, a proxy of Jaish-e-Mohammed, quickly claimed the responsibility and warned of more attacks in the future. This is the seventh terror attack in the Jammu region, an area south of Pir Panjal, in the last one month.
With Assembly elections due anytime soon, the aim of this piece is to suggest a rebounce strategy at the national/State level, for the security forces and the citizens.
Counter Terrorism Strategy
At the national level, we need to clearly define our threshold for the terror attacks. Merely saying that we have zero tolerance for terrorism may not be sufficient. Whether a globally acceptable definition of terrorism is accepted at the UN level, Bharat must clearly define terrorism as per its national interest and put it in the public domain. The newly introduced BNS 2023 should be ruthlessly applied for any terror act or even support to terror in any form. Next is to frame a dynamic Counter Terrorism (CT) strategy. I am not saying that we do not have any CT strategy but it apparently needs a rejig with the changed local dynamics. It may be noted that the Government’s anti-Naxal strategy is already paying the dividends, thus a renewed approach in this region is a clear imperative. Specialist Vehicles Needed.
Next immediate step is to make big time investment in the equipment and gadgetry needed by the security forces, particularly the Army to fight terrorism. The Army units in the Jammu region are in peace station profile, after a gruelling three years tenure in the high-altitude mountains, jungles or after serving in the remote borders. Instead of the much-needed rest, recoup and training for the conventional war, they get sucked in the anti-terror grid. The Army units operate with the same arms and equipment with which they are supposed to fight a conventional war. For example, in this operation, the Army was using a soft top vehicle for patrolling. The Army too needs hard top specialist vehicles like the ones employed by the para military forces. Now we have inhouse capability to make specialist vehicles in a defence PSU like Vehicle Factory Jabalpur, as also with the private industry. We are dealing with tech savvy terrorists and the security forces need cutting edge latest technology to neutralise the threat. Just the cost of one Rafael fighter aircraft can offset the expenditure for equipping the security forces.
Unity Among All Stakeholders
At the J&K UT level, there appears to be some macro level deficiencies in the management of the situation. Maybe the focus has shifted to the successful conduct of Amarnath Yatra, which no doubt is always under the shadow of terror. As for the coordination amongst the security forces, it remains a sore point and my experience tells me that the various agencies operate in silos, always conscious of someone else taking away the credit. At the State level, a highly efficient synergy and coordination mechanism is urgently needed. There is no requirement of formal meetings which largely have less utility. Instead, all the stakeholders need to connect on video or tele mode or app, for the real time sharing of inputs and coordination. In addition, the state has to carefully monitor the demographic shift in the region, including the presence of Rohingyas. Specifically for the security forces, lack of timely, adequate and accurate intelligence, particularly human intelligence is a big failure. Fight against terrorism has to remain nimble and the security forces have to revive and reinvent human intelligence in their area of responsibility. Over a period of time, intelligence sources become stale, are employed by multiple security agencies and at times also act as double agents. It is critical to recruit new sources of human intelligence right from the border villages to towns and cities. Our time-tested system of Mukhbirs (informers) at the village level and in small towns, which the local police employed in the past seems to have dried up. This region has a large number of ex-servicemen and they could also be tapped for intelligence. Intelligence is a specialised activity and for this, a lot of money is required to be pumped in to establish a foolproof intelligence grid afresh.
At the State level, a highly efficient synergy and coordination mechanism is urgently needed. Jammu region has a large number of ex-servicemen and they could also be tapped for intelligence
Next the security agencies have to identify and locate the ecosystem that supports and nourishes the network of terrorism. In this incident, local guide, intelligence about the move of Army troops and logistic support to the terrorists has been established. Over a period of time, the inimical forces employ a network of individuals who act as sympathisers and overground workers. These could be a rustic villager to a white-collar professional. Pakistan has invested in students, teachers, doctors, engineers and government employees to provide logistics and act as their eyes & ears to spread the tentacle of terrorism. This needs to be deactivated at the earliest. The security forces also have to follow the laid down SOPs very strictly. Army particularly may have to look at improving the leadership potential of the JCO cadre.
The recent attacks are also disturbing because the local public including the local media has been found wanting in the fight against terrorism. The centre of gravity in such operations is common people which the terrorists want to target. Without public awareness and continuous sensitisation, the terrorists would always sneak in. Right from the villages, all citizens should have the ability to sense any unusual activity and suspicious movement. A lot of security concerns are addressed through village defence groups. Essentially, a security consciousness amongst the citizens prevents a terrorist strike.
At the strategic level, China and Pakistan are working in tandem to reduce the pressure they are facing in the Ladakh region. Indian Army must remain resolute in thwarting any evil designs here and carefully employ reserves in the fight against terror. Our leadership knows that numbers alone are not sufficient in the fight against terror but success is achieved through intelligence-based operations by well-equipped small & specialist teams. The leadership also has to move out of the comfort zone and lead from the front where necessary.
With not much success in the Kashmir valley, the deep state in Pakistan wants to ignite the Jammu region which was largely peaceful in the recent past. The high voter turnout in the recent Lok Sabha elections has also rankled them and they would like India to have second thoughts about the impending Assembly elections. A comprehensive and coordinated fight against terror with a well-defined rebounce strategy would thwart the evil designs of the sponsors of terrorism.
