After seven days of operations against militants holed up in a thick forest in Poonch’s Mendhar region, the Army has deployed its elite Special Forces Para Commandos to flush out the ultras, but operations have been crippled by a lack of night-vision devices.

More than 1,500 Army soldiers are now involved in one of the largest counter-terror operations in the state in recent times, perhaps next only to the month-long Operation Sarp Vinash in 2003 in which 62 insurgents were killed after the Army raided a major militant logistics base in the Hill Kaka region.

However, the Army is finding it extremely difficult to close in on the militants, who are hiding in a cave on the upper reaches of a mountain slope in the Bains forest, due to a thick fog cover that has reduced visibility to as little as 2 metres. The operation is being carried out at altitudes of over 5,000 feet.

With the militants holding an advantageous position on the slope, soldiers are also finding it difficult to move during daylight and the critical lack of night-vision devices has once again come back to haunt the Army.

While night-vision surveillance devices have been moved in and the Para Commandos are carrying their own special equipment, the lack of night-vision rifle sights and other advanced devices has slowed down operations to a frustrating pace.

As reported by this newspaper, the Army is crippled by a case of night blindness due to a wrangle with defence PSU Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). While the Army requires new ‘third generation’ night vision devices and night sights for rifles, it is stuck with older devices that are more of a hindrance than an asset.

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