'Terrorist launchpads active in PoK': BSF braces for Pak backed infiltration attempts in winter; claims 'force alert'

NEW DELHI: Border Security Force on Sunday said that Pak-backed terrorist launching pads are active across the LoC even after the security forces destroyed several of them in PoK during Operation Sindoor.

"Several terrorist launching pads across the LoC were destroyed during Operation Sindoor, but some launching pads are still active where there is the presence of terrorists," Inspector General of BSF Ashok Yadav said.


"There is always an attempt by Pakistan to infiltrate terrorists ahead of the winter. As you know, the visibility these days is low, but we have modern surveillance equipment, and we effectively cover the vulnerable patches. Our efforts are to foil any infiltration attempt," he added.

This comes a day after senior BSF officers said that more than six dozen terror launchpads have been shifted to the "depth areas" in Pakistan after Operation Sindoor.

"After the BSF destroyed many terror launchpads along the border during Operation Sindoor, the Pakistan government shifted all such facilities to the depth areas… About 12 launchpads are working from the depth areas of Sialkot and Zaffarwal, which are not exactly on the border.

"Similarly, 60 launchpads are working in the other depth areas away from the border,” BSF DIG Vikram Kunwar had said.

Kunwar, along with BSF IG Jammu Frontier Shashank Anand and DIG Kulwant Rai Sharma, addressed a joint press conference to highlight the achievements of the force in 2025, including its role in Operation Sindoor, India’s military response to the April 22 Pahalgam massacre with cross-border links that claimed 26 lives.

The officer said the figures of these launchpads, as well as the terrorists present in them, keep changing.

“They do not sit there permanently. These launchpads are generally active when terrorists have to be pushed (into India)... They are not kept in more than two or three groups," DIG Kunwar said while informing that there are no training camps in the areas close to the International Border presently.

“Earlier, they used to have areas marked where those belonging to Jaish-e-Mohammad would be active on the down side, and those from Lashkar-e-Taiba would be active on the upper side. After Operation Sindoor, they have formed a mixed group. Those who want can get training in a mixed group,” DIG Kunwar said.

IG Anand said the BSF is ready to follow the orders of the government if it decides to resume Operation Sindoor.

“If we talk about 1965, 1971, the 1999 Kargil War, or Operation Sindoor, the BSF has a good experience of all kinds of wars, be it conventional or hybrid warfare. We are ready," he said.

"If we get a chance, we are capable of causing more damage than what we did in May. Whatever policy the government decides, the BSF will play its role in it," he added.

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