Western army commander reviews preparedness on Jammu borders

Jammu, Sep 20 (IANS) Indian Army's Western Command chief, Lt. Gen. Surinder Singh, on Tuesday visited the border areas in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu region to assess the preparedness of the troops, a defence statement said.

"During the visit, the army commander took stock of the security apparatus in the sensitive areas and complimented all in successfully maintaining a high state of vigil.

"The Army Commander reviewed the deployment in the entire region and appreciated efforts being made by all the security agencies to enhance the levels of preparedness," it said, adding Surinder Singh also emphasised the need for ensuring high degree of alertness and operational preparedness.

"He also stressed upon the need to coordinate the intelligence network of all agencies in the region so that prompt actions can be undertaken to defeat the nefarious designs of adversary," said the statement.

The visit comes in wake of the Sunday cross-border terror attack on an army camp in Uri town of the state which left 18 soldiers dead. While most of Jammu and Kashmir comes under the army's Udhampur-based Northern Command, a section of Jammu comes under the Chandigarh-based Western Command.