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The army proposes to raise a new division of the Rashtriya Rifles in just five weeks to police the insurgency-prone Pathankot-Jammu sector and hills adjoining the Reasi town in Udhampur district.
The government has granted an emergency sanction for raising of the 12,000 strong force, which would be ready for deployment before next month's assembly election in the state, according to highly placed army sources.
The soldiers are to be drawn from the ongoing recruitment drive and army's own internal resources. The division will be headquartered at Reasi in Udhampur district, the sources said.
They said the force was being raised on a war footing to bridge security gaps in the Jammu-Pathankot sector, which has been the scene of militant attacks like the Kaluchak massacre and the Qasim Nagar carnage. The sector is just 8 to 10 km from the Pakistan border.
The new division would be the fifth Rashtriya Rifles formation based in Jammu and Kashmir for counter-insurgency role.
Four divisions of Rashtriya Rifles are already functioning in the valley. The Kilo force is operating in the frontier district of Kupwara, the Victor force in south Kashmir, the Delta force in Doda and Romeo force in Rajouri district.
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