NEW DELHI: The government has ordered the extraction of two BSF battalions, comprising more than 2,000 personnel, from Odisha to beef up security in the terror-hit Jammu region along the India-Pakistan border, official sources said on Saturday.The decision to “immediately” move the two units from the anti-Naxal operations grid to Jammu was taken in the wake of the recent spate of terror attacks in the region, sources told PTI.Officials in the security establishment said the two Border Security Force (BSF) units were meant to be deployed as the “second line” of defence behind the first tier of its units deployed along the international border in the Jammu area to check infiltration of terrorists from across the frontier, apart from attacks by these elements in the hinterland.The troops of these two units are expected to be based in Samba and near the Jammu-Punjab border, the sources said.”Two recent meetings, one in Delhi and one in Jammu, of the top security brass necessitated bolstering BSF deployment in Jammu. There was a proposal to move these two BSF battalions from Odisha to Chattisgarh but these units are now being sent to Jammu, given the current situation” said a senior officer, requesting anonymity.The BSF guards more than 2,289 kilometres of the international boundary that runs along Jammu, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat in India’s western flank. The Jammu region accounts for 485 kilometres of this border, interspersed with dense forests and mountainous terrain. About a dozen BSF battalions are deployed along the international border region in Jammu.Security in the Jammu area has come into focus following a series of terror attacks in Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Udhampur, Kathua and Doda districts this year that have led to the killings of 22 people, including 11 security personnel and a village defence guard member. Five terrorists were killed in two encounters in Kathua and Doda districts last month.
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