Army ‘Modifying’Measures to Counter IED Menace in J&K: Lt Gen Ranbir Singh

DRAS: The Indian Army is ‘modifying’ its measures to counter the growing menace of Improvised Explosive Devices in Jammu and Kashmir which includes bringing new equipment and improving training of troops and bomb disposal squads.

The development was shared by the Northern Army Commander, Lieutenant General Ranbir Singh, with ET. Singh also said that there are about 16 terrorist camps in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the army has been receiving regular inputs of terrorists attempting to infiltrate into India to carry out attacks.

“We are carrying out large number of changes and modifications, which includes bringing new counter-IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) equipment and training troops. We also have bomb disposal squads and have dogs trained to detect IEDs. There are also several other measures to ensure that we don’t suffer casualties due to IEDs,” said Singh.

He explained that terrorists prefer to plant IEDs, cause casualties and escape. The importance of improving IED detection and prevention gains importance for the security forces in the backdrop of the current security scenario and the ongoing Amarnath Yatra. There was already a major terrorist attack on February 14 in Pulwama on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in which an explosives laden vehicle rammed into a Central Reserve Police Force bus that was part of a convoy, killing 40 soldiers. Thereafter, in March there was another blast inside a private car on the same highway, near the Jawahar tunnel. There have been around seven IED blasts this year, while last year there were 10.

Security forces have already been working on improving the Standard Operating Procedure for convoy movement. Road Opening Party (ROP) duties are also being revised in view of the threat of vehicle borne IEDs. The number of Mine Protected Vehicles and bulletproof vehicles are being increased.

Meanwhile on terrorist camps in PoK Singh said, “There are about 16 to 17 camps present till date. But this number keeps changing. Sometimes there are 37 to 38 camps. Sometimes they leave these camps and go to other camps and sometimes they make more camps. But until now there are about 16 camps.”

ET had earlier reported that Pakistan shut down about 13 terrorist training camps of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Hizbul Mujahideen in PoK. Some of these camps were located in Muzaffarabad and Mirpur.

He also said that India has been regularly warning Pakistan to stop indulging in state-sponsored terrorism. “When we have military level talks with Pakistan, we explain to them that they must not indulge in such activities, because it is their own loss and of entire Kashmir. And we want that Pakistan stops all such activities.”

“The Indian Army is fully prepared to take on any challenge or any contingency. I want to articulate that should there be any misadventure by the adversary along the Line of Control they will always be given a befitting response,” he added.

Meanwhile, Singh also said that the situation along the Line of Actual Control with China is peaceful. “There are transgressions which take place at times, but we have well established mechanisms for confidence building. We are able to resolve those problems, by sitting with the Chinese and discuss with the Chinese army. Overall, the situation continues to be peaceful and tranquil along LAC,” he said.

The Army Commander was in Dras to felicitate an expedition of the army’s 2 Rajputana Rifles to Tololing in Dras to remember its capture by the unit during the 1999 Kargil War with Pakistan.

Source: ET

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