Surankot, May 24: Fenced by lofty peaks with dense forests snuggling up to knife-edge ridgelines, Surankot town's graveyard has just got a little crowded and its surrounding areas a lot quieter. After years of chasing the elusive quarry and with little results to show, the Army is now keen on showcasing its success achieved with months of planning and a little bit of luck. The bowl around Surankot would teem with militants hidden behind interweaving ridges and spurs emanating from Pir Panjal range and protected from observation from the thick forest cover. The Army today has them on the run and the staging ground where terrorists would recuperate and plan is permanently lost to them.
Senior army officers who led the five-month-long operations in virtually no-go areas believe that the killing of 60 terrorists and seizure of incredible 7,000 kg of rations has broken the back of the militant movement in the region bounded by the LoC on one side and the Pir Panjal mountains on the other.
It all started towards the end of January with a disinformation campaign that led potential informers into believing that helicopters with canvas covered loads were dropping temporary posts on mountains still covered with snow and lashed by an occasional blizzard. While the mini bulldozers set about setting up helipads to overcome the logistical problem of carrying loads on foot through eminently ambushable territory, the Romeo Force of the Rashtriya Rifles and the Victor Force across Pir Panjal started making preparations for the first-ever domination of the forests.
Army officials did not believe a surrendered militant when he told them in February that the area hosted up to 350 militants in "full bloom, or the peak of the summer. But a helicopter sortie over a snow-covered ridge a few weeks later found footprints leading to nowhere. A bunker was the only obvious conclusion. Another sortie and more footprints in the snow were discovered when another intrepid pilot brought his chopper closer down to observe disturbed snow.
The information given by the militant and the evidence was adding up. Mid-April saw the Victor Force on the other side of Pir Panjal laying down ambush points while troops of the local Romeo force began their expedition at the dead of night on April 21.
Simultaneously, helicopter gunships blasted the two bunkers that would have held up troops' advance.
First `contact', the somewhat euphonious army term for guns blazing from both sides, was at 5 a.m. and 13 terrorists were killed.
Since then about 45 terrorists from seven terrorist organisations have been shot dead while the waiting Victor Force on the other side of Pir Panjal has accounted for another 20 fleeing from the pursuit.
Since then the Army has been methodically sweeping the area instead of returning to its bases thanks to the logistical supply ensured by the helipads.
Besides the usual cache of weapons, the Army has come upon a command post made of roughly-hewed stone and resembling a raj era bungalow complete with a porch.
This was where the terrorist organisations congregated for coordinating their actions.
The prolonged presence of troops due to continuous supply of rations has led to the discovery of almost 100 bunkers and hideouts where the terrorists would lie low till troops having dangerously extended their supply lines would retreat.
"We are going to stay there and force them into populated area where they can be eliminated,'' says Hardev Lidder, the Romeo Force chief.