Omar Abdullah links Jammu terror surge to troop shift during 2020 China standoff

Srinagar/Jammu: J&K CM Omar Abdullah attributed Saturday the rise in terrorist activities in Jammu to the redeployment of troops to Ladakh following

Chinese incursions

in April 2020.
“These (infiltrations and attacks) are not new. For the past three or four years, you have witnessed such cases in many areas of Jammu, including Reasi and even Jammu city,” Abdullah said after visiting the families of four policemen killed in an anti-terrorist operation in Kathua.
Following multiple Chinese incursions in 2020, the Army deployed the “Uniform Force” of its specialised counterinsurgency unit Rashtriya Rifles to eastern Ladakh, reducing troop presence in Jammu. This created opportunities for Pakistan to push infiltrators, according to security experts.
“When China attacked or entered Ladakh, we needed the Army to tackle the situation there,” the CM said. “The Army stationed in Jammu was sent to Ladakh, creating a vacuum, which is now being rectified gradually.”

The region remains in mourning following the deaths of four policemen in Thursday’s gunfight in the forested Sufain area of Kathua. The slain men — head constable Jagbir Singh, constables Tariq Ahmad, Balwinder Singh Chib, and Jaswant Singh — were killed after security forces came under fire from terrorists hiding in the woods. The bodies were retrieved Friday and Saturday.
Heartbreak rippled through villages as grieving families and neighbours gathered to pay their respects. In Reasi district’s Chamba, residents consoled the family of Tariq, who had promised to be home for Eid (March 31). He leaves behind his wife and a four-year-old daughter.
In Khour of Jammu district, Jagbir’s family — his wife, daughter, and son — struggled to process their loss. Similar grief unfolded in Kathua’s Kanna Chak, where villagers gathered at the home of Chib, and in Londi Morh of Hiranagar, where Jaswant’s elderly parents, wife, and two young sons were inconsolable.
CM Abdullah assured that the next of kin of the slain policemen would receive govt jobs and other relief under existing policies. He led the wreath-laying ceremony for Jagbir, while BJP MP Jugal Kishore Sharma and former J&K BJP president Ravinder Raina attended constable Tariq’s last rites.
Two Pakistani terrorists, suspected to be affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammed group, were also killed and weapons were seized from the site, DGP Nalin Prabhat said.
Security forces expanded their search operation to nearby areas, including Billawar Heights, to track down any remaining terrorists, the DGP said. People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a shadow outfit linked to Pakistan-based Jaish, claimed responsibility for the attack.
CM Abdullah said attacks must be prevented to end the cycle of mourning. “For that, we have to control terrorism,” he said.
Between May and Dec last year, J&K saw a wave of terrorist attacks, prompting heightened counteroffensives. More than 30 terrorists were killed before the region’s harsh winter set in, while security forces suffered 25 casualties — 19 in Jammu and six in Kashmir.
This year, eight security personnel have died in J&K, including one soldier in Kashmir and seven in Jammu. In Feb, terrorists targeted an Army patrol with an IED near the LoC in Akhnoor, killing Capt Karamjit Singh Bakshi and Naik Mukesh Singh Manhas.
According to security officials, the terrorists killed in Kathua were part of a new group infiltrating from Pakistan. The terrorists are believed to be the same group that managed to escape after a brief gunfight last Sunday evening near Sanyal village in Hiranagar sector, close to the Pakistan border. Sufain’s forests are about 35km from Sanyal village.
Security sources estimate that 70 to 80 Pakistani terrorists remain active in J&K, with 55 to 60 operating in Jammu. These highly trained operatives, armed with M4 carbines and thermal imaging devices, work in small groups and exploit the rugged terrain, posing a persistent threat to the region’s stability.