NEWDELHI,JULYA THERECENTattacksthathave rockedtheJammuregionare suspectedtohavebeenperpe tratedb a“freshbatchofterror ists”whoinfiltratedinthepast si monthsandcomprisefight ersfromPakistan’sPunjabas wellasKh erPakhtunkhware gions,saidsources.Mostofthem aresuspectedtobeJaish-e Mohammed(JeM)recruits. Accordingtosources,while the‘People’sAnti-FascistFront’ claimedcreditfortheattacksin Poonch-Rajouri earlier, the ‘KashmirTigers’tookresponsi bilit orthemorerecentattacks inDoda-Kathua. Boththese groupsaresuspectedtobeJeM fronts,saidsources. Thegroupsarehighl rained, motivatedandthosefromthe Kh erPakhtunkhwaregion ma lsohavebattleeperience, includinginAfghanistan,said

Dodaattack: Jaish suspects infiltrated six months ago sources in the securit establish ment.FormerPakistanArm ol diers ma lso beamongthem, addedsources. So far, 11 ArmedForces per sonnel have beenkilledb uch groups,usuall omprisingthree tofivemen,insi separateattacks this ar.Mostofthesecasualties have takenplace in thepastfew weeksalone. Besides, nine pas sengers diedwhen acivilian bus wastargetedinReasilastmonth. Therecentincidentscomeon thebackofaseriesofprecisionat tacksinthe Jammuregionsince October2

1. BeforetheJune-Jul attacksthis ar,theArmhadal read lostclose to 4 personnel since 2 1. Theearlier attacks, however, were focussedinthe Poonch-Rajouri sector, nearthe LoC. But the recent attacks have moveddeeperintoregions such asDoda,KathuaandReasi. “Thisisadifferentbatchofter rorists that has infiltrated in the pastsi months. The Poonch Rajouri sector terrorists,wesus pect, continuetooperateinthat region. The newbatchissus pected to have beendividedinto four-fivelean groups, whichare operating with considerable stealth and arehighl rained,” said asecurit establishment of ficerinJammuandKashmir(J&K). Securit agencies engaged in counter-terrorism in the region, however, believe the areall drawnfromthesamepool. “BoththePoonch-Rajouriand Doda-Kathua-Reasibatcheshave the samemodusoperandi.The have thesamelevelofmilitar training,reconnaissancecapabil it ,aversion to use of technolog orpubliccontact,andappl imi lar guerilla warfaretactics. Both have similar sophisticated weaponsandhave beenmaking videosoftheattacks.Giventhena tureoftheattacks,thepresenceof Pathan fighters from the Kh er Pakhtunkhwa region, whohave earlier fought alongside the Taliban,cannotberuledout,”said anotherofficerfromJ&K. “Both groupshave madeso phisticated videos of the attacks usingbod ameras, and aback endteamputstetinimpeccable literar nglish forpropaganda. The ometimesevenquotenoted authors andpoets such asRobert Frost,” saidanofficer. Thecontinuedattacks,despite aggressive counteroperationsb thesecurit forces,hastheestab lishment worried. While the groups areestimated to number notmorethan2 inboththere gions,securit forceshavenothad muchsuccess. “The impl is appear in the thickjungles after the attacks.Itisver ifficult to chaseorlocatetheminsuchhill forests. Recentl whentheArm becamemorecarefulaboutits movements,the mbushedan IAF’s administrative unit vehicle inPoonch,”saidanArmedForces officer.Inman ftheattacks,like intherecentambushonanArm convo inKathua,the ootedthe securit forces’weaponsandbul letproof jackets,saidsources.