This may not have been the first instance of a landmine explosion in the Kargil sector but it has revealed a deadly tactic of the intruders in the area: They lay landmines every time they are evicted or forced to retreat from their intruded positions inside Indian territory.

Three days ago, during mopping-up operations in the Lone Hill area and adjacent Point 4700, troops recovered 52 boxes of anti-personnel mines. Each box contained around 24 mines. And this haul was the third such since Operation Vijay commenced.

``This has further confirmed their tactics,'' says a senior officer in Army HQ. He adds that the intruders have also laid mines all around most of the important positions they are still occupying.

Though a confident Col Bikram Singh, fromthe Directorate of Military Operations, says that the Army has the equipment to detect and circumvent the mines, he points out that this is not going to be easy. Each mine weighs only about 150 gm, is plastic-based and therefore can avoid detection by electronic equipment. ``Also, it is very easy to hide the mines under a stone or inside a crack. It can easily be used as a booby trap,'' said Singh.