Anantnag encounter: How Pir Panjal forest is aiding terrorists to infiltrate Kashmir

Security forces are engaged in gun battle in South Kashmir’s Anantnag area and have encircled two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. This comes a day after three security force officers – an Army Colonel, a Major, and a deputy superintendent of Jammu and Kashmir Police – were killed in action.

The action in the region has once again put the focus on south Kashmir, especially the Pir Panjal forest range, after a temporary lull.

We take a closer look at how the forests and the adjoining area have seen a rise in terrorism and how security personnel are putting their lives on the line to ensure safety and peace in the region.

Terrorists drawn to Pir Panjal area

Security experts have noted that in recent months, the areas of the Pir Panjal range, Poonch and Rajouri have seen an increase in terrorism. They believe that Anantnag located between the Pir Panjal range and Srinagar with access towards Doda makes it an important destination for terrorists.

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Graphic: Pranay Bhardwaj

The encounter currently ongoing in Kashmir is also being carried out in Anantnag, with officials circling two LeT terrorists, including commander Uzair Khan.

Officials state that the terrain of the area provides terrorists with great hiding and cordoning the area is very difficult. Some officials have added that the topography of the Pir Panjal range is as “tough as Afghanistan’s mountains” and hence, provide the perfect hiding spot for terrorists.

Moreover, the forests in the area are interconnected; this means, that the terrorists can carry out their nefarious activities in one area and then go hide in another, giving the security personnel a run-around.

In fact, authorities have found that the terrorists infiltrating the area either head to their hideouts or head towards a sympathiser, whose geo-coordinates are known and fed to their phones. In some cases, the terrorists also take shelter in the houses of the locals forcibly.

An official had told The Hindu in a report that several villagers had informed the security personnel that these terrorists line up the family members and use their smartphones to download an application and communicate across the LoC and then delete it immediately. A few times they also click their photographs and forwarded them to their handlers across the LoC, “in a bid to threaten the families”.

An official further added that in some pockets of the Pir Panjal area, cellular services from Pakistan are active and can be detected on phones too.

School students pay tribute to the three security personnel, who were killed in a gunfight with terrorists in J&K's Anantnag district. PTI

Earlier, an Army commander in June had been quoted as saying that the focus of infiltration has now shifted to south of Pir Panjal. “Infiltrators are now trying the Rajouri-Poonch routes, the areas of south of Pir Panjal. The focus of infiltration has largely now shifted to south of Pir Panjal and in fact, there are inputs that some people may have also trickled in via Nepal,” he was quoted as saying to GreaterKashmir.com.

Terrorist incidents in Kashmir

Terrorism in Kashmir has reduced drastically since 2020, but still prevails in pockets. According to official data, there have been a total of 251 terrorist incidents in Jammu and Kashmir since 2021; 15 occurred in Jammu region’s three districts, while 236 occurred in the Valley.

The data also reveals that in the past three years, a total of 24 security personnel and 75 civilians were killed on both sides of Pir Panjal mountain range in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prior to the ongoing encounter in Anantnag, there have been a few high-profile incidents in the Pir Panjal and nearby areas. In May, five soldiers from the Army’s Special Forces died in Rajouri in a terror attack. Two weeks before, five soldiers were killed in Poonch when their truck was ambushed by terrorists.

In August 2022, a terror attack had taken place on a military camp in Rajouri, claiming the lives of five soldiers. In October 2021, nine soldiers, including a JCO, were killed in two separate encounters with terrorists between Bhata Durian and Dehra Ki Gali.

With inputs from agencies