Intelligence alerts failed to avert predawn assault
IB had passed on specific information to the Army that a group of terrorists had been sighted near Muzaffarabad.
NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Just a few kilometers away from the Line of Control (LoC) and close to the border from three sides-Hajipir, Kamalkot and the Kaman post, that Uri as a town lacked strategic locational advantages from the military point of view was never exactly a secret.
About an hour’s drive to Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir’s Muzaffarabad city, a known launch pad for militants waiting to infiltrate, and 102-km northwest of Srinagar, Uri is not new to terror attacks.
However, what is surprising is that the blatant assault took place in spite of two critical information alerts of such an impending strike.Only on Friday, the Intelligence Bureau had passed on specific information to the Army that a group of terrorists had been sighted near Muzaffarabad and that there was a strong possibility of an attack in Uri and nearby areas where Army bases are obvious targets.
General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), a former corps commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, tweeted on Sunday: “Uri attack, this is my old HQ. Warned the Cdr specifically on 8 Sep. Happened in 10 days. Done to remove pressure from hinterland army move”. And true to the warnings, at dawn on Sunday, four terrorists attacked an Army battalion centre in Uri.
Terrorists sneaked in on Saturday night
Unconfirmed reports said 4 Para Commandoes were flown in who stormed the building where the terrorists had positioned themselves and gunned them down but not before a good three-hour gunfight from 5.30 am to 8.30 am.
Multiple sources in the Army and in the intelligence agencies told this newspaper that in all probability the terrorists had sneaked in across the LoC on Saturday night.
“This is a classical tactic deployed by terrorists from Pakistan in the past. To sneak in the night before from across the LoC and then to attack early in the morning when the soldiers wake up and attend to their morning ablutions. The soldiers are unprepared, unarmed and at their vulnerable most,” sources said.
The meticulously-planned attack took place in the rear of the army administrative base where many of the soldiers were staying in temporary tents.
“While Army barracks and houses are suitably fortified, tents are very inflammable. There were many soldiers staying in the tents as the Bihar Regiment was in the process of shifting out from the Uri base as part of the routine changeover and the Dogra Regiment was moving in,” the sources added. Earlier in May 2002, terrorists had stormed the family quarters of an Army camp in Kaluchak area, Jammu.
