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Balakot Is Reactivated, 500 Militants Waiting To Infiltrate: Army Chief Bipin Rawat

Indian Air Force had carried out an attack at terror camps in Balakot in retaliation to the deadly terror attacks on CRPF personnel in Pulwama in February this year.

Balakot Is Reactivated, 500 Militants Waiting To Infiltrate: Army Chief Bipin Rawat
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Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday said Pakistan has reactivated the Balakot terror camp very recently and about 500 infiltrators were waiting to sneak into India.

"Let me tell you, Balakot has been reactivated by Pakistan very recently," he said while answering a question on new terror camps.

Balakot had suffered damaged and was destroyed by the cross border strike and "that is why people have got away from there and now it has been reactivated," he said.

Asked about the response to the reactivation and if a repeat strike may be expected, he said: "Why must you expect a repeat of a similar thing, earlier we did something, then we did Balakot, why must we repeat...

...why not keep the other side guessing as to what we will do; why tell him what we are going to do, why not keep him guessing, why say repeat, why not something beyond that."

To a question on the number of infiltrators waiting to get in, he said the numbers kept fluctuating based on the weather pattern.

"These numbers keep fluctuating, but I would say yes there are at least 500 people who are waiting to infiltrate and that is the minimum number," he said.

As the ice has melted, the bid to infiltrate is towards the northern part of Jammu and Kashmir and when the temperature falls such attempts were through areas less vulnerable to snowfall, he said.

The Army has taken adequate measures to curb infiltration to the maximum extent by deploying more troops along the Line of Control, he said.

Other areas, along the International Border, were, however, being exploited for such purposes, he pointed out.