Pakistan Army deploys Chinese artillery closer to LoC & IB, indicate reports

New Delhi: A day after 'Operation Sindoor' in which more than 100 terrorists were neutralised by security forces, multiple reports have now emerged pointing to the deployment of Chinese artillery, namely SH-15, by the Pakistan Army, security officials aware of the matter said. The systems have been deployed closer to the International Border and Line of Control (LoC), they added.

According to reports, the SH-15 was inducted by the People Liberation Army between 2018 and 2020 and has since been exported to several countries, including Pakistan, which signed a contract in 2019 for the delivery of 236 SH-15 artillery systems. The SH-15 systems have a wide range of ammunition, including precision-guided munition developed by Norinco that can achieve a maximum range of 53 km with rocket-assisted projectiles. Chinese defence company, Norinco, has been banned in United States.

Pakistan Army had, in the past too, procured Chinese equipment such as satellite phones and provided them to terrorists in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) which were later found to be active in Jammu and Kashmir. Several Chinese equipment such as satellite phones and Chinese apps and navigation systems were being used by foreign militants in Jammu and Kashmir, added another official. The fresh assessment carried out by various security agencies has pegged the number of foreign militants in the border state to more than 75 militants. The presence of foreign militants, despite the Army and Border Security Force (BSF) claiming "zero infiltration", has been a cause of concern among the security agencies.

Among the active foreign militants, most of them are affiliated to LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen. All the three groups have been banned by the Union home ministry under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.

"Lashkar has the largest presence of militants in the valley and its offshoot The Resistance Force (TRF) has been involved in several attacks on security personnel and civilians in the past. It came into existence in 2019 and has been banned under UAPA," explained another official.

Investigators have so far not ruled out the involvement of the same group from The Resistance Force (TRF) which had been earlier involved in the 2023 Dangri attack and the 2024 Reasi bus attack. They however said that there is no clear breakthrough into the identity of attackers involved in the Pahalgam attack.

"TRF, which later backtracked their claim on the Pahalgam attack, seems to have done so due to pressure from Pakistan. They are very much active online and their identity will be revealed soon," explained an official.