SRINAGAR – Indian Home Ministry official said the attack on the Sunjuwancamp in Jammu had tell-tale signs from across the border while theoperation is still on and Indian Army is still clearing the camp.
Jammu and Kashmir DGP S.P. Vaid said on Saturday that the militants who hadstormed the Sunjuwan Army camp in Jammu earlier in the day were “100 % fromPakistan.”
Mr. Vaid said the attack coincides with the death anniversary of 2001Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru. Guru was hanged to death in Delhi’sTihar Central Jail on February 9, 2013. Security agencies had sounded ahigh alert last week for February 9 and February 11, the day Jammu KashmirLiberation Front founder Maqbool Bhat was hanged in Tihar jail in 1984.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh said Centre was closely monitoring thesituation. Mr. Singh said he spoke to the J&K DGP regarding the terroristattack on the Army camp.
“The DGP has apprised him of the situation. The MHA is closely monitoringthe situation,” a tweet posted by Mr. Singh’s verified handle said.
Later, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a function in Ahmedabad,Mr. Singh said, “You should be rest assured that Army and security forcesare giving a befitting reply to the attack. They will not let Indian down.I cannot comment anymore as the operation is still on.”
A senior Home Ministry official said the attack had tell-tale signs thatthe terrorists belonged to Pakistan. In the past two years, Afzal Guru hasemerged as the common link in at least three attacks on police and Armycamps along the Jammu-Pathankot highway. The att ack on a CRPF camp inSouth Kashmir’s Pulwama on December 31 was also carried out by JeM, theofficial said.
Investigators had found a message, written in Urdu, on piece of paper onthe body of one of the four terrorists who was killed at Pathankot airbasein 2016. The message allegedly said the attacks were a revenge for AfzalGuru’s hanging.
Similar papers were found on the bodies of intruders who were gunned downduring an attack on a police post at Rajbagh police station in Kathua inJammu on March 20, 2015 and the attack on an Army camp in nearby Samba onMarch 21, 2015. All the cites of the attacks are located within 15-20 kmsof the Pakistan border and along National Highway 1A.
An official said it was premature to say whether the terrorists infiltratedfrom the Line of Control (LoC) or International Border (IB). The 740 km LoCis under the operational control of the Army and 192 km InternationalBoundary (IB) along Jammu is manned by the Border Security Force (BSF).
The BSF said it has been on maximum alert due to the ongoing cross-borderfiring and shelling from Pakistan’s side. “There has been no breach offence on the IB. The forces are on maximum alert. The cross-border firinghas stopped since January 22 but sporadic shelling is taking place. It ispremature to say where the terrorists came from,” said a senior BSFofficial.