The latest dump has been unearthed from the mountainous area of Bandipora, including the surface to surface (SAM's) deadly missiles with launchers. These Russian made missiles are highly effective against battle tanks, vehicles of all tpyes and can raze multi-storey buildings to the ground, say the army commanders. Though the recovery was made by 7 Gharhwal Rifles (5 sect RR), commanded by Brigadiar N P Krishna, on April 16 and 18, it was put to display for the press today.

Commenting on the recovery, the GOC 8 mountain div, Major General Mahinder Puri, said this shows that the level of sophistication of the militants weaponry has gone up particularly with the influx of foreign militants. ``There could bemore such dumps in the area, however, we are maintaining a strict vigil to keep the situation under control,'' he said.

When quized about the number of foreign militants in the valley, Puri said it is difficult to give an exact figure. However, with summer approaching, their number may go up as more wil try to sneak in.

Brigadiar N P Krishna said the missiles recovered resemble the Foget anti-tank missile which is equally lethal. ``It has got a winding of a special type of wire that allows the pilot to control its flight through an electronic device fitted in the launcher while keeping track of the missile's flight through the view finder of the launcher. It allows a pin point precision hit. It can hit the target upto a maximum of three kilometres with 15 seconds. These missiles have a plastic covering,'' he said.

According to Army sources, the militants dump these weapons at places of their choosing. The sources also say the militants are finding it hard to use these weapons against the targets as theycould easily expose their positions and secondly, these weapons are not easy to carry.