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Rediff.com  » News » 42 terror camps active in PoK, says Army chief

42 terror camps active in PoK, says Army chief

Last updated on: October 21, 2010 16:13 IST

Image: Army Chief General VK Singh
Anti-India terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan is intact and currently 42 terror camps, including new ones in Pak-occupied Kashmir, are being run, Army Chief General V K Singh said. Now even women are being trained to wage Pakistan's proxy war against India, he told PTI in an interview.

General Singh said infiltration has gone up recently and around 600 terrorists are waiting at "launch pads" in PoK along the Line of Control and International Border to sneak into India.

Pakistan has "invested heavily in the proxy war against India" and there has been "no substantial effort" by it to act against terror groups which operate from its soil and are used as a "strategic tool" by that country.

'Pakistan will continue to foster terrorism against India '

Image: Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, head of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, patron of the Lashkar-e-Tayiba
Photographs: Reuters/Faisal Mahmood
"Currently, 42 terrorist training camps are located in Pakistan and PoK. Inputs reveal that some new camps have also been established in PoK for undertaking terrorist training,"General Singh said.

The Army Chief was responding when asked whether Pakistan has done something to dismantle anti-India terror infrastructure as has been promised by it repeatedly. "It is assessed that Pakistan will continue to foster terrorism against India and the terrorist infrastructure is likely to remain intact in the foreseeable future," he said.

General Singh revealed that the terror outfits are maintaining a number of officers, stores, transit accommodations and temporary training facilities at various locations in PoK.

'Some infiltration attempts have succeeded'

Image: Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Mastermind of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks
"Launch pads are used extensively for infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir and are located all along the Line of Control and parts of International Border," he said, adding "As on date, approximately 600 terrorists are located in the launch pads, poised for infiltration in the near future."

Talking about infiltration, he said it has recently gone up, with 10 incidents being recorded in June, 6 in July and 33 in August. Significantly, August witnessed the peak of stone-pelting incidents and other forms of agitation in the Kashmir Valley, which also were being fuelled from across the border.

General Singh felt that about 20-25 infiltration attempts had succeeded, which is indicated by the fact that 12 to 15 terrorists were killed in the last 15-20 days. "This shows people have come from somewhere," he said.

'Pakistan perceives Kashmir as an unfinished agenda'

Image: Maulana Masood Azhar, head of Pakistan's Jaish-e-Mohammed
Photographs: Rediff archives
Noting that Pakistan perceives Kashmir as an "unfinished agenda", he said, "it is assessed that Pakistan will continue to foster terrorism against India and the terrorist infrastructure is likely to remain intact in the foreseeable future."

On meeting the challenge, he said the Army has a "robust counter-infiltration strategy" which has yielded "excellent results". He said the Army's ability to detect and neutralize terrorists attempting to infiltrate or exfiltrate has increased with dynamic troop deployment, pro-active use of surveillance and monitoring devices and the anti-infiltration obstacle system.

"Inputs also reveal use of terrorist tanzeem (groups) sponsored madrasas for religious indoctrination of new recruits," Singh said.

'Ceasefire violations are aberrations'

Image: Ilyas Kashmiri, leader of Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami
Photographs: Rediff archives
To a question on ceasefire violations by Pakistan in the recent months along the Line of Control and International Border, he said these are "generally in few specific areas and we are trying to ensure that these remain confined as also reduce altogether."

He said the ceasefire has generally been holding out except for a "few aberrations" and all violations of ceasefire are taken up with Pakistani military authorities at the appropriate level through the established mechanism of hotlines, flag meetings and weekly talks between the Directors General of Military Operations.
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