Six car bomb attacks, four targeting civilians, in the past eight weeks signal the emergence of the newest phenomenon which security forces say is far deadlier and harder to foil. The blasts have claimed 34 lives, 13 of them army personnel. The largest attack, in Pulwama on June 13, killed 15 people, including nine soldiers, while the most recent one in Srinagar saw a stationary vehicle blow up in the path of an army convoy killing four soldiers.

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CAR TOMB: A bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into an army jeep in Srinagar (top), killing six people

Security agencies see an Iraq-type pattern and attribute it to the militants' strategy to avoid depleting their cadres and inflicting maximum casualties. The next phase, they fear, could see suicide bombers driving explosive-laden vehicles into civilian areas or security installations. "These militant attacks are fewer in number but deadlier in impact," says Jammu and Kashmir police chief Gopal Sharma.

Even more startling is the sharp increase in infiltration attempts. In the Valley alone, the army has detected and foiled 23 infiltration bids since May 1. Eighty-four infiltrators, about two-thirds of them Pakistani nationals, were killed-the highest in the corresponding period in the past eight years. The biggest infiltration incident was in the Gurez sub-sector where the troops gunned down 12 terrorists on the loc.

On July 16, troops foiled another major infiltration bid in the Gulmarg sector by killing nine terrorists of the Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Force, a new militant outfit that has surfaced in the Valley. "There has been a 60 per cent increase in infiltration bids over the past year," says Lt-Colonel V.K. Batra, spokesman at the 15 Corps Headquarters in Srinagar.

While army intelligence reports indicate that at least 2,000 terrorists are waiting to sneak into the Valley, most of the infiltration bids are taking place through high-altitude terrain. These routes, unfrequented in recent years, are now being used because the new 3 m high concertina wire fence and increased surveillance along the loc have made infiltration difficult. The infiltrators in Gurez and Gulmarg were carrying high-altitude clothing, shoes and communication equipment. In the past six months, at least three dozen top guns of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen, Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen and Lashkar-e-Toiba have been eliminated in south Kashmir. Most of the infiltrating groups were affiliated to the usual suspects-Jaish-e-Mohammad, Tehrik-ul-Mujahideen and let.

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