J&K's Village Defence Guards armed with modern rifles amid spike in terrorist activities

New Delhi: With a spurt in terrorist activities in the Jammu region in recent months, Indian Army has begun equipping village defence guards with modern rifles. They have also began giving them some basic training with the hope that these individuals would boost the area’s overall security network.

“Nearly 600 individuals have been trained in Rajouri and Doda-Kishtwar regions. They are also being given self-loading rifles through a coordinated effort between Indian Army's ordnance depots and the Jammu and Kashmir Police,” sources said.

These rifles, sources said, would be a crucial component of the village defence guards’ armament, further empowering them. Each VDG unit is receiving a minimum of three-days of training under the supervision of skilled personnel from the army and police forces.

The training efforts are being led by local Indian Army formations with additional support from instructors and training aids sourced from the Corps Battle School in Sarol.

The initiative, undertaken at the request of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, has seen significant progress. To date, around 500 individuals have been trained in the Rajouri area, with an additional 85-90 individuals trained in the Doda and Kishtwar regions.

The training involves operation of automatic rifles, squad post drills, and minor tactics. It is conducted at the unit level, in proximity to their respective villages to ensure that the village guards can quickly apply their skills in real-world scenarios.

Arming the villagers is one of the components of a multi-prone strategy that the security agencies are employing in Jammu and Kashmir to bolster the northern state’s security ahead of the assembly polls.

In the wake of the recent terror strikes, multiple security reviews have taken place to find out the gap areas and chalk out new counter strategies. The force level is also being upgraded.

Last week GOC of 16 Corps Lt Gen Navin Sachdeva reviewed the security situation in the Doda and Kishtwar districts of Chenab valley, which is going to polls along with south Kashmir districts in the first phase on September 18.