The Amarnath Yatra is set to conducted for 59 days this year.
Pakistan terror groups have sent members to Jammu and Kashmir with orders to plan
fidayeen or suicide attacks targeting the annual Amarnath Yatra, said intelligence sources to NDTV.
They added that the government in Kashmir and the Centre have been alerted to the security concerns for the pilgrimage made by thousands to a shrine high in the Himalayas in South Kashmir.
The Indian Army has launched Operation Shiva today, with 7,500 soldiers assigned to locate between 10-15 terrorists who have reportedly entered Kashmir from across the border ahead of the
yatra on the instructions of deadly terrorist groups including the Lashkar-eTaiba. Central paramilitary forces and the local police have deployed another 10,000 people to protect the devotees and the two commonly used routes to the shrine.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh reviewed the security arrangements for the
yatra today in Srinagar. The pilgrimage to a cave in the Anantnag District, considered among the holiest shrines for Hindus, begins tomorrow under the careful supervision of local administration officials, the state police and paramilitary troops. The Amarnath Yatra will be conducted for 59 days.
There is also reportedly credible evidence that the attacks on telecom infrastructure and telecom employees were predetermined to disrupt communication. In May, terrorists attacked telecom towers as well as shops offering mobile phone services in the Sopore area of Northern Kashmir.
Sources say that the government's concerns include possible protests by separatists seeking to embarrass the coalition government of the BJP and the regional PDP headed by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Officials have been alerted that local youth may be co-opted to join those demonstrations.
"There are credible inputs that some elements may try to attack the yatra. We have made all possible arrangements and taken all possible precautions, but nonetheless we cannot let our vigil or guard down," Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, told NDTV.