Valley’s new trough

However,it wasn’t the first major security operation to fail in this north Kashmir town and neighbouring Zaingir belt,which has emerged as virtually the capital of Valley’s resurgent militant movement. This movement comprises a new breed of highly trained,motivated militants who don’t hesitate trying to break through security cordons,instead of sitting holed up inside for long standoffs,and who have devised ways around the extensive electronic surveillance of the police and security agencies.

Sources say 12 times in the past two months in Sopore and adjoining Zaingir belt alone,police and security forces have made attempts to trap top militant commanders belonging to the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen,and failed. In Sopore alone,the police have registered 12 cases related to major militant strikes and activities in which no one has been apprehended as yet. The government carved out a separate police district for Sopore last month to streamline its response.

In fact,Ooni himself is reported to have escaped cordons in and around Sopore five times,after firefights with troops. During one such encounter,on February 20,troops had cordoned off a house in Warpora on the outskirts of Sopore after an input pinpointing Ooni’s location,but he had broken the cordon and escaped even after being struck by a bullet. The failure to catch Ooni — who took over as Lashkar chief in 2008 after Hafiz Nasir was killed in an encounter at Chatloora in north Kashmir — has turned into a costly embarrassment for the security forces. He is credited with regrouping the Lashkar in the Valley as well as changing the militant strategy to outsmart the Counter-Intelligence grid.

Another militant to have escaped the cordon thrown around Ooni in Chinkipora neighbourhood on November 1 last year was Zubair,a top Lashkar commander who hid underneath the debris after the forces blew up the house and emerged once they had left. Based in Handwara area,he is also credited with substantially strengthening the Lashkar network in his area.

Militants have deployed some noticeable changes in strategy,aiding such narrow escapes. Earlier when security forces threw a cordon around a hideout,they preferred to stay inside for a long standoff. Now they have observation posts keeping a round-the-clock watch,and the militants try to break through the initial cordon.

However,what has really hurt the operations of security forces is that militant commanders are now spoofing both cell and satellite phones to lead the authorities the wrong way,putting paid to one of their most effective counter-intelligence tools. The rejigged cellphones project the wrong mobile number while spoofing changes the lat-long (latitude and longitude) of Sat phones to provide a misleading location of the user. Then the militants are also increasingly using Voice Over Internet Protocol — a communication mode deemed difficult to monitor.

“Whenever the conversations of top militants are picked,they use matrix sheets to exchange important information,” said a senior police officer privy to operations in Sopore. “They continuously change their matrix sheets.” Citing the example of Hizb commander Dawood alias Doctor,who operates in Sopore,the officer said that to mislead surveillance,he travels several miles to a different cell tower to make a call,switches it off and then returns to his hideout.

While this has forced the security forces to return to conventional intelligence gathering,the officer noted that it wasn’t the easiest thing to do. “Generating human intelligence is extremely difficult in Sopore and its adjoining Zaingir belt,especially as the militants have set up vast networks of overground workers and couriers,” the officer said.

“They are also using ‘women OGWs (overground workers)’,which is a big disadvantage to us. We arrested a top militant commander’s mother along with two handgrenades and Rs 50,000 recently and even registered a case,but could not take further action because of its implications on the law and order,” the officer said. Citing another example,the officer said that a few months ago,there was specific information that Zubair was in a particular house and was unarmed. “The input was shared immediately but the police party sent to arrest Zubair took a lot of time to locate the house,and he escaped. There was no informer there who could lead the party to the right house.”

Area of operation

While Sopore is emerging as the capital of the resurgent militant movement in the Valley,sources in the police say militants have also strengthened their base in Lolab valley,Bandipore and Rajwar,surrounding Sopore and Zaingir belt. But these areas are mainly used as transit camps. Earlier the Bandipore jungles were the Lashkar’s primary operational base. “They have been lying low in these areas and avoid a direct confrontation with the security forces,” an officer said. The Lashkar is led by Umar in Rajwar,Chota Walid in Lolab and Abu Zar in Bandipore.

In south Kashmir,the police and security forces have been hunting for the Lashkar’s Abdul Rehman,who operates from Pulwama villages and handles operations in south and central Kashmir. In Tral belt,the police say Lashkar’s unit is run by a local commander,Shabir. Security agencies also believe that a new wave of militancy has begun in south Kashmir’s Kulgam region,with a group of militants coming in from the Jammu province across the Pir Panchal range. There are also reports of fresh recruitment from Pakharpora area.