Army trying to wear out terrorists on 7th day of encounter

Mendhar (J&K), Jan 7 (PTI) Army personnel were
carrying out a "deliberate operation" to wear out the holed-up
terrorists to avoid casualties in security forces, as their
encounter in the dense forests in Poonch in India's
northern state of Jammu and Kashmir raged for the seventh day
in one of the longest battles in the border state in years.

The Army said the eight to ten terrorists holed up in
the Bhati Dhar jungles in Jammu region were suspected to be
from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group.

Union Defence Minister A K Antony, Army chief General
Deepak Kapoor and senior officers in Jammu underpinned a
strategy to quickly end the encounter which was marked by a
heavy exchange of gunfire but acknowledged it was taking time
due to the difficult terrain and to avoid casualties among
securitymen.

"We want to flush out the militants but we want to
ensure there is no casualties," Antony said in New Delhi.

Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor told reporters, "We
are carrying out to ensure maximum attrition on the terrorists
to ensure that we do not suffer any casualties... the area is
very rocky and filled with natural caves. That is why it(the
operation) is taking time."

Asked about a time frame to flush out the militants
from their fortified cave hideouts, Gen Kapoor said the army
was trying to finish off the operation as soon as possible.

Brigadier General Staff Brig Gurdeep Singh told
reporters in Mendhar that it is not possible to specify as of
now how long the operation will last. Singh said the
undulating forest terrain in the region and the weather were
acting as big constraints for the army in flushing them out.

"We are carrying out a deliberate operation to wear
out the terrorists and to ensure that the casualties among our
own forces are avoided. That's why we are taking time to
eliminate the terrorists holed up here," Singh added.

Asked what could be the objectives of the holed-up
militants and whether there was any Pakistani connection, Gen
Kapoor said, "Their objective is very clear. For the last
number of years, the insurgency is on within the state of J
and K. So they are part of the similar insurgency but it is
the responsibility of the Indian army to check all that."

Kapoor said the strategy of the militants later is to
move out to the country's hinterland.

Brig Singh said, "The holed up militants, who have
been exchanging fire with the security forces for the last one
week, seem to be from JeM based on the intercepts that we have
got." The militants were using natural caves as hideouts.

Army also said it suspected militants to be still
holed up in the forests as two small arm shots had been fired
by the militants since this morning from different spots in
the operational area.

"There are militants holed up there. We know it from
the gun shots yesterday and today. It would not be right to
guess their number at this point," Singh said.

Maintaining that the army had busted a couple of
caves, where the militants were hiding during the operation,
he said they had recovered some ammunition, rocket propelled
grenades, some ration and a radio set from the busted
hideouts.

Denying reports 1,500 troops deployed in the
operation, he said there were just about 350 men on the ground
as of now battling the terrorists. PTI