More troops sent to Doda, Army using choppers for surveillance

Additional Army troops have been injected into Doda district of J-K and chopper surveillance has begun after the massacre of Hindus in two predominantly Hindu-populated villages by armed militants, suspected by the Army to be from the Lashkar-e-Toiba, before dawn on Monday. Troops operating in Doda district, covered under Sector 4 of the Army’s Rashtriya Rifles (RR), have been put on high alert as combing operations continue across the mountainous terrain.

The Army has not dismissed the possibility of foreign militants being part of the group that carried out the massacre.

While it appears that there was no prior intelligence of this particular attack, Army sources said additional forces had been mobilised in Sector 4 for a thorough search operation.

While there is one Army company for every 60 sq-km in the valley, it is learnt that there is one for every 100 sq-km in Doda owing to its far flung villages and geography. Starkly different from the Kashmir Valley, Doda is a much harder challenge for counter-insurgency considering its high altitude, ranging from 8,000-15,000 feet and difficult topography.