Mind games along LoC: Two key Indian Army posts on Pakistan radar

Indian soldiers defending two of the army’s most vulnerable posts in the Poonch sector have specifically been told to keep their powder dry, amid concerns that the Pakistan Army could try to up the ante in the conflict and renew instability along the Line of Control (LoC) here.

Intelligence inputs with commanders on the ground suggest that the neighbouring army has plans to foment trouble by launching a fresh wave of attacks on the two posts – Haq and Kopra-2 where bunkers destroyed in previous strikes are still being rebuilt.

“There are reports that the enemy has been talking about overrunning these posts… Holding advantageous positions gives them that confidence.

But I have told my boys it will be a jackpot for us as we won’t have to go looking for them,†said colonel JV Singh, the 40-year-old commanding officer of 5/4 Gorkha Rifles whose soldiers man the two posts.

The aggressive posture struck by the Pakistani soldiers perched on heights overlooking the posts has led the Gorkhas deployed here to be prepared for a counter-assault even as they go about shoring up their defences against the threat from Pakistani posts – Kopra OP, Kopra LP and Brown Patch.

The Poonch sector is guarded by one of the army’s largest brigades with nine battalions under it and it was in this area that the Army used artillery for the first time to strike back at Pakistan.

The so-called plan to strike at Haq and Kopra-2 that is being talked about along the LoC could be an attempt by the Pakistan to test the waters or spread propaganda to divert the attention of the army. Whatever be the motive, the Army is not taking the threat lightly.

“We carry out a detailed analysis of such inputs. The focus is on identifying our weaknesses and taking steps to fix them, “ said brigadier Navdeep Brar, commander of the Poonch Brigade. “And then we look for the opportunity to move in for the kill.â€

A localised conflict triggered by the Pakistani army has the tendency to spread ominously along the LoC as the army concentrates its firepower on weakest Pakistani posts in other sectors such as Krishna Ghati and Bhimber Gali.

“When they talk about attacking specific posts, they are playing mind games. The intensity of our retaliatory strikes is not lost on them,†said lieutenant general RR Nimbhorkar, commander of the Nagrota-based 16 Corps.

The Pakistani army has been indulging in speculative firing in the Poonch sector to provoke a reaction from Indian soldiers. “That doesn’t bother us. We strike back only if our posts or civilian areas are hit,†said a Gorkha soldier, sharpening his khukri at a heavily-fortified bunker complex near Haq post.

Source from India Defence News.