Local Terrorists Are ‘Emboldened’: Ex-Army Chief on Pulwama Attack

Former Army Chief Bikram Singh said that the Pulwama attack showed terrorists had changed their tactics.

Former Army Chief Bikram Singh also opined that the Pulwama attack showcased a change in the tactics of terrorists.

(Photo: PTI)

Former Army Chief Bikram Singh on Friday, 15 February, said that the deadly Pulwama attack, in which at least 37 CRPF personnel were killed, showcased a change in terrorists’ tactics.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Singh said that while Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) have been used in the past, terrorists had recently shifted to long-distance firing.

“IED has been used after a long time, IEDs were used in the past, in 2001-2002, when I was there, this was a normal practice of terrorists, then they resorted to firing from distance.”

Bikram Singh, Former Indian Army Chief

The 14 February attack in Kashmir only showed how local terrorists had adopted an ‘emboldened’ stance, Singh said, highlighting that the levels of radicalisation had gone up in the region.

“But this thing where a local boy who has been radicalised, he has undertaken a ‘fidayeen’ action on a moving convoy, shows the emboldened instance of local terrorists... also the fact that radicalisation levels have gone up.”  

Bikram Singh, Former Indian Army Chief

On Thursday, 14 February, an explosives-laden car rammed into a CRPF convoy on the Jammu-Srinagar highway at Awantipora, Pulwama. According to the official statement, 37 CRPF jawans lost their lives in the dastardly attack.

(With inputs from ANI)