Pakistani Military in recent times has been seen under a deep sense of frustration, the reason being the shrinking number of Islamic fighters who could have kept the flag for Kashmir’s Militancy high and, second, collaborative effort by the Indian armed forces who to an extent have contained terror outfits, like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), from spreading their wings freely within the region. Over the past few years, persistent attempts by the Indian armed forces have been made under the larger action framework, known as “Operation All-Out”, to eradicate the militancy.
In recent years, there has been a shift in the tactics and strategies of terrorist activities within the Region. Broadly those two are:
- The emergence of home-grown terrorist groups which has largely been successful in creating the localization and indigenization factor for terror activities. Newer groups like ULKF, TRF and PAFF, largely supported by LeT and ISI have been created. Traditional outfits like LeT and JeM were continuously targeted by the Security forces and they were falling short of fighters India’s consistent linkages of these fighters with Pakistani Intelligence services were bringing a challenge to their strategy.
- Recent operations have traced out the involvement of retired Pakistani Military personnel who were found fighting under the cover of Militants groups. Recent Rajouri encounter held on 22 Nov gave an indication to this theory, further confirmed by the Indian Army.
Shift of militancy from the Kashmir valley to the ranges of Pir Panjal
Kashmir valley has been the hotbed of terrorist activities since independence, while Jammu has been comparatively peaceful and violence-free, especially over the last two decades. Ever since the Rashtriya Rifles and the local police drove the terrorists out of the region of Pir Panjal in the 1990s, the region has been devoid of major terrorist attacks or tensions since then. However, this has changed recently, especially with the targeted killings of civilians – in the Poonch and Rajouri regions, signalling a resurgence of the 1990s.
In recent times it has been observed a magnificent shift of militancy activities towards the Jammu Region which was previously focused around the Kashmir valley. The Jammu Region has been largely covered with lush green forest which serves as the best ground for Guerrilla warfare for militants which ultimately challenges the security forces, unlike the operations across the Kashmir region which was largely based across the urban environment.
Observation
Recent Change in Modus-operandi by ISI and Pakistani military shows that it wants to invade the Indian region of J&K and keep triggering the Kashmir cause for its justification of importance in the region. The motives here are clear; they wish to stretch the operation area of the armed forces as the military is already stretched thin between LAC and LOC.
Also, after the surprise end of Pakistan’s role in Afghanistan and the way the Taliban has Ignored Pakistan as an actor to their cause has actually left no room for the Pakistani Military to justify its role in the region and therefore it wants Kashmir to be the centrepiece of their existence in the Islamic world.
Author: Om Ranjan