The border across the western frontier with Pakistan, especially in Jammu, will continue to be on high alert with the maximum available boots guarding it on the ground, officials said on Saturday, soon after India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all military actions against each other after four days of intense armed confrontation triggered by the Pahalgam terror attack — an agreement breached by Islamabad hours later.
Officials in the Border Security Force (BSF), which guards 2526.86 km of the Indo-Pak International Border and 237.2 km of Line of Control, said the force will continue to be on high alert because of mass infiltration attempts (aided by Pakistan Rangers) in the last few days at the border along Jammu sector and a history of foreign terrorists attempting to infiltrate into India from there.
“There will be no decrease in the number of personnel. The Jammu sector has been very active in the past few days. There will be a zero-tolerance policy on infiltration,” one senior officer said requesting anonymity.
Over the last 48 hours, terrorists from Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed have tried to infiltrate into India from different points along the border in the Jammu sector, officials said.
On Friday night, BSF destroyed a terrorist launch pad at Looni in Sialkot district of Pakistan, along with posts and assets of Pakistan Rangers during one such attempt.
Officials said the incident, second in the last 24 hours, was evidence of Pakistan Rangers helping terrorists to infiltrate into India by providing cover fire or engaging BSF personnel at the border.
At RS Pura area in Jammu, also on Friday night, Pak Rangers opened fire at BSF personnel without any provocation.
“Last night for the second consecutive night, Pakistan initiated unprovoked firing from Sialkot across the BSF posts. They were providing cover to the infiltrators. There is no let-up in security in Jammu because of foreign terrorists desperately trying to cross into India. While there is ceasefire, foreign terrorists could try to enter India to fuel tension with a second terror attack like Pahalgam and try desperately prove that the Pahalgam terror attack was work of local terrorists,” the official cited above said.
The Looni area, where BSF destroyed the terror pad, is in the same Sialkot district of Pakistan where on the first day of Operation Sindoor, Indian forces destroyed the Mehmoona Joya camp. The camp, located around 12 km from the international border, was a key training facility of the Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) and was used for the revival of terrorism in Kathua and Jammu region during the last two to three years.
On Thursday night, BSF neutralised seven JeM terrorists in Samba sector and destroyed Pakistan Rangers post Dhandhar. Personnel from Pak Rangers fired at BSF posts to provide cover to the terrorists attempting to cross into India.
Around 6pm on Saturday, foreign secretary Vikram Misri announced that the two countries had agreed upon a ceasefire to stop all military action against each other.
Misri addressed the media again at 11 pm at a hurriedly convened briefing and said there had been “repeated violations of the understanding” over the last few hours. “We call upon Pakistan to take appropriate steps to address these violations and deal with the situation with seriousness and responsibility,” the foreign secretary added.
