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No drop in infiltration: Army chief
May 21, 2003 19:02 IST
Chief of Army Staff General N C Vij on Wednesday said the infiltration of terrorists has not slackened from across the Line of Control, south of Pir Panjal in the Jammu region.
He said India will continue to adopt a 'wait and watch' strategy on Pakistan's commitment to end cross-border terrorism.
He was speaking after a function, in New Delhi, honouring six soldiers who saved the lives of many people aboard the Frontier Mail, which caught fire last week.
He said the recent army operations had flushed out terrorists from certain areas in Surankote in Poonch, but they were not 'intrusions'.
Vij said 'Operation Sarp Vinaash' had been planned to clear terrorists from areas instrumental to army operations. He said it was too early to evaluate the infiltration levels across the LoC, but with the snow melting in the north and south of Pir Panjal, the army will be on high alert in the next few months.
Asked how long the Hill Kaka areas had been under terrorist cover, Vij said it was not a sort of intrusion, but the terrorists were occupying high terrain adjacent to Pakistan occupied Kashmir and using the area as a major assembling point.
Vij dismissed reports of the army using MI17 helicopters on some of the fortifications made by Pakistanis in these areas. "The choppers were only used for logistics."
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