Srinagar : The terror group, Islamic State is a live threat that cannot be ignored in the Valley, a top Army officer stated on Saturday. “The IS is a live threat that cannot be ignored. It is a cause of concern and we are monitoring it,” General officer Commanding of Army’s 15 Corps Lt General Satish Dua told reporters here.
The Corps Commander, who heads the army in Kashmir, was replying to a question about the possibility of the Islamic State forging an alliance with the militant outfits like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaishe-e-Mohammad for expanding its activities to the valley.
“All the security forces and the intelligence agencies are monitoring this. That is all I can say,” Lt Gen Dua said. On the recent attack on an army camp in Tangdhar near the Line of Control, he said it was part of the militants’ strategy to hit the nearest army post or camp as they were unable to breach the multi-tier counter-infiltration grid set up by the security forces.
“This is not a new phenomenon. In Tangdhar itself, you are aware few months ago there was a similar attempt and resulted in a similar operation. So, they always try to get in close with the army post or camp because they are unable to infiltrate due to this well coordinated counter-infiltration grid. So they try and create a very sensational attack very close to the Line of Control,” he said.
The Corps Commander said that besides Tangdhar-like attacks, the militants were also carrying out very ‘shallow’ operations very close to the line of control. “There have also been some smaller operations where they have come just a couple of hundred metres across the Line of Control, tried to fire at our post and run back. In one of the cases, they tried to lay an IED … that was a very shallow operation,” he added.
Lt Gen Dua noted that the militants, being unable to infiltrate or exfiltrate across the Line of Control (LoC), were resorting to local recruitment of youth in their ranks.
“The counter-infiltration grid being so robust, they are not able to exfiltrate … we are seeing that local recruitment is taking place. They are not going out for training. They are given some rudimentary training here itself. I believe these young boys are being pushed into it,” he said.
