Barring another attack of a similar nature 2 years ago, Reasi district has been peaceful — unlike Rajouri and Poonch. The latest attack could suggest militants are expanding their footprint.
Security services in the Union Territory are alarmed by the attack on a bus bringing pilgrims from Shiv Khori in J&K’s Reasi on Sunday because it suggests that militants are extending their sphere of influence beyond the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the generally tranquil Jammu region.
The latest known attack in the Reasi district, according to authorities, was in May 2022 when terrorists detonated sticky explosives inside a bus, killing four Vaishno Devi pilgrims and wounding almost twenty.
Other than that, the district, which is located far from the Line of Control, has remained quiet for almost twenty years. According to sources, militants moving through the region on their route to the Kashmir Valley after crossing the Line of Control into the districts of Rajouri and Poonch are the only other known insurgent activity from the region. Two heavily armed Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were defeated by locals in July 2022 in Tuksan Dhok, Reasi district, and turned over to the Jammu and Kashmir Police. At that moment, both were traveling from Rajouri to Kashmir.
The districts of Rajouri, Poonch, and Reasi were centers of militancy in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but they then saw a period of relative stability until 2021, when militant activity began to resurface in Rajouri and Poonch.
Former authorities in the security services claim that these three regions are strategically significant due to their location, difficult mountainous terrain, and deep forests.
The LoC stretches along Rajouri and Poonch for around 200 kilometers. For militants who cross the Line of Control, the Pir Panjal range, which divides Kashmir from Jammu division, runs through the three districts and gives them access to the Valley.
Under condition of anonymity, a senior police officer stated that the area’s topography benefits terrorists since the mountains and forests give them the cover they need to travel between districts whenever they come under increasing pressure from security personnel.
According to the officer, there was probably pressure on militants from police and security personnel in Rajouri and Poonch, which led to the terror assault that occurred on Sunday in Reasi.
38 soldiers and 11 civilians have lost their lives in insurgent strikes in the Rajouri and Poonch regions since 2021. Of them, seven civilians and almost twenty military have perished in 2023 alone.
