The Army and the Border Security Force (BSF), which have been facing a proxy war in the State for almost 11 years now, find themselves thrown into the fight with their hands tied.

"Militants have often been using politicians' vehicles for shifting their consignments," A S Mangat, Inspector General, BSF, Baramulla frontier, said.

Baramulla is one of the worst terrorist-affected districts in the Valley with nearly 1000 militants, including foreign mercenaries, and over 550 awaiting infiltration from across the Line of Control (LOC), he told PTI.

While Mangat declined to divulge the leaders' political affiliations, other officials alleged that middle-level leaders of a regional party in the State were actively assisting the militants.

Besides providing vehicles for shifting consignments, somepoliticians also harbour militants, BSF sources said, adding they have regularly reported the matter to higher authorities, to no avail.

Asked whether he has brought the matter to the notice of the State Government, Mangat said, "We are not supposed to communicate with the State Government. We can only inform our superiors in the force."

Another major hindrance, according to BSF sources, are the "black sheep" among the local police who are not only militants' informers but also "perfect spoilsports" during counter-insurgency operations.

"During cordon and search operations, we are supposed to inform the local police and often, by the time we reach the spot, the militants would have absconded despite definite information from local residents," said an official.

Another official said some police personnel reach the encounter spot and demand the immediate handover of arrested militants, "due to which we are not able to question them (ultras) thoroughly and collect further information."

"Though amajority of the police personnel are with us, a few of them are enough to give us trouble," he said.

However, he said local Police personnel were of great help, particularly in "crossing the communication barrier".

The other "difficult situations" for security personnel include the use of young girls by militants to shift arms and ammunition. "We do not have any women personnel in many areas, as a result of which girls are not frisked and the militants are exploiting the situation to their advantage," said an officer.

Besides, religious places are used for hiding weapons, as forces raid them at the cost of antagonising locals.