In a surprising revelation, it has been found that the Army was alerted by the intelligence agencies on September 15 about the presence of a group of eight Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists across the LoC in Pakistan, waiting to infiltrate into Uri with specific plans to hit the Army base.
According to intelligence sources, the agencies had reportedly noticed the eight terrorists and another group of mixed terror affiliation watching the Army base from a height since August 28 while hiding in the mountains of Uri, says a Times of India report.
“The intelligence alert on this was shared with all agencies and security forces, including the Army, through the multi-agency centre on September 15. It specifically warned of the likelihood of the terrorists crossing over and hitting the Uri camp,” Times of India quoted an intelligence official as saying.
If the claim by the intelligence agencies turns out to be true, the Army failed to stop four terrorists from sneaking in despite being on high alert because of the ongoing unrest in Kashmir Valley.
Furthermore, the intelligence agencies have alerted the forces in J&K to raise the security level as hundreds of terrorists from Pakistan would try to sneak in after the UN General Assembly ends this week.
It may be worth mentioning here that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar n Wednesday accepted that there must have been some lapses on part of India that worked to the advantage of terrorists who managed to attack the Army base in Uri, resulting in the death of 18 soldiers.
“Obviously something must have been wrong. I will not go into detail of it. Obviously it is a very sensitive matter. I believe in zero error,” said Parrikar.
Parrikar’s comment seems to be an admittance of the fact that the Army may have lowered the security level on the night the attack took place.
Moreover, the lapse seems more serious as the terrorists cut the perimeter fence not at one but two places.
“They cut the fence at two points close to each other. This is obviously a major lapse that needs to be looked into,” said a security official.
While the Army has claimed that the Uri attack was carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed, intelligence sources said that the claim was made merely on the basis of a phone call made by a Jaish aide to a Kashmiri journalist claiming responsibility of the attack.
“Otherwise, the preliminary findings, particularly the recoveries from the terrorists, bear Lashkar's imprint,” said the intelligence operative.
Meanwhile, the Army on Wednesday carried out intense combing-cum-search operations in Uri and Naugam sectors along the Line of Control in Kashmir where alert troops foiled two infiltration bids but have so far drawn a blank in retrieving bodies of the slain militants.
Army personnel continued their search operations in the higher reaches of Uri and Naugam sectors of Baramulla and Tangdhar districts respectively but have not managed to reach the spot where the bodies were supposed to be lying.
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