BSF’s Jammu Frontier chief Shashank Anand on Tuesday said there were continuous intelligence inputs that militants were returning to their camps and attending training sessions on the other side of the border in the aftermath of the recent skirmish between India and Pakistan.

The revelation comes days after the Narendra Modi government made it clear that any attack on Indian soil would be considered an act of war.

Inspector-general of police (IGP) Anand, along with other senior officers, on Tuesday gave the first detailed account of the BSF’s role in Operation Sindoor. He said the operation was ongoing as Pakistan could not be trusted, and his forces had not let their guard down.

“We have no specific inputs about how many terrorists will infiltrate and when. (But) we are continuously receiving inputs that terrorist organisations are making efforts, they (militants) are returning to camps, engaging in training. Wherever they feel the vigil has dropped, they will try to infiltrate,” he told reporters in Jammu.

The IGP was replying to a question about the possibility of infiltration by militants along the international border, which the BSF guards in Jammu.

“We believe Pakistan cannot be trusted. Operation Sindoor is on. The BSF is ready and vigilant along the IB. We are putting up robust surveillance systems to maintain high vigilance along the border,” Anand said.

The senior BSF officer said they had thwarted an infiltration attempt by 40 to 50 suspected militants with pre-emptive strikes along the border during the
recent cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan.

“We launched pre-emptive strikes and inflicted heavy losses. The adversary was forced to retreat. Their troops, the Rangers, and terrorists suffered casualties,” he said.

The two sides have officially agreed to hold fire and the deal has held for days.

Anand said the BSF destroyed multiple terror launch pads in Akhnoor, Samba and RS Pura, including those in Loni, Mastpur and Chabbra.

“On May 9-10, Pakistan opened unprovoked fire in the Akhnoor sector, targeting BSF posts. In response, we hit the Loni launch pad linked to the Lashkar-e-Toiba and caused significant damage,” he said.

Anand, however, said two BSF men and an army soldier lost their lives when Pakistan used low-flying drones to drop payloads on BSF posts. He said the force had proposed to name a post in Samba after Operation Sindoor and the two martyred men.

Anand said BSF women personnel, including assistant commandant Neha Bhandari, had shown exemplary courage by manning forward posts during the weeks-long clashes with Pakistan.

Anand said their immediate priority was to ensure a peaceful Amarnath Yatra, calling it a very important event for them. He said they would like more and more Indians to join the Yatra.

BSF deputy inspector-general Chiterpaul Singh said Pakistan used drones to target villages like Abdullian.

“Pakistan fired on our 60 border outposts and 49 forward defence locations…. We responded by destroying several enemy posts, towers and bunkers. Around 72 Pakistani posts and 47 forward posts were hit. In contrast, the BSF suffered no loss of assets or infrastructure,” he said.