Jammu- Three weeks ahead of polling in Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency, terrorists ambushed two security vehicles, including one belonging to Indian Air Force (IAF), in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district, leaving one soldier dead and 4 others injured.
The attack on the convoy took place near Shahsitar in the Surankote area around 6.15 pm when the troops were returning to their base at Sanai Top, the officials said.
They said five soldiers were injured in the firing by the terrorists and were subsequently evacuated to hospital, where one of the two critically injured personnel succumbed to injuries.
IAF in a post on X said, “In the ensuing gunfight with terrorists, the Air Warriors fought back by returning fire. In the process, five IAF personnel received bullet injuries, and were evacuated to the nearest military hospital for immediate medical attention. One Air Warrior succumbed to his injuries later.”
Earlier IAF posted, “An Indian Air Force vehicle convoy was attacked by militants in the Poonch district of J-K, near Shahsitar. Cordon and search operations are underway presently in the area by local military units. The convoy has been secured, and further investigation is under progress.”
The vehicles were moving towards nearby Sanai Top in the district’s Surankote area, they said, suspecting the involvement of the same group of terrorists who carried out an ambush on the troops in adjoining Bufliaz on December 21 last year, that left four soldiers dead and three others injured.
The Army truck bore the major brunt of the firing by the terrorists who were armed with AK assault rifles and are believed to have fled into the nearby forests, the officials said.
Reinforcements from the Army and police have been rushed to the area and a massive search and cordon operation was launched to track down and neutralise the terrorists, they said.
Police assisted by paramilitary forces carried out searches in Poonch town since Friday following inputs about movement of suspected persons. However, no one was arrested during the operation, the officials said.
Poonch is part of Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency which is going to polls in the sixth phase on May 25.
The border district of Poonch along with adjoining Rajouri have witnessed some of the major terrorist attacks over the past two years, signalling return of terror activities to the region, which was once cleared of terrorism and remained peaceful between 2003 and 2021.
The latest incident in the Pir Panjal region followed the killing of a government employee Mohd Razaq, brother of an Army personnel, by terrorists at village Kunda Top in Rajouri’s Shahdra area on April 22 and a village defence guard Mohd Sharief in Basantgarh area of Udhampur on April 28.
Police have released pictures of two Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, including suspected Pakistani national Abu Hamza, involved in the murder of Razaq and announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
The Bufliaz ambush in December last year came weeks after a major gunfight in the Dharmsal belt of Bajimaal forest in Rajouri that left five Army personnel, including two captains, dead a month earlier.
Two terrorists, including a top commander of LeT identified as Quari, were also killed in the two-day long gunfight. Quari was said to be the mastermind behind several attacks, including the killing of 10 civilians and five Army personnel in the district.
The stretch between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz on the boundary of Rajouri and Poonch is densely forested and leads to Chamrer forest and then Bhata Dhurian forest, where five soldiers were killed in an ambush on an Army vehicle on April 20 last year.
In May last year, five more Army personnel were killed and a major-rank officer was injured in Chamrer forest during an anti-terrorist operation. A foreign terrorist was also killed in the operation.
In 2022, five Army personnel were killed when terrorists carried out a suicide attack on their camp at Pargal in Darhal area of Rajouri district. Both the terrorists involved in the attack were eliminated.
In 2021, nine soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by terrorists in the forested region. While five Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed on October 11 in Chamrer, a JCO and three soldiers were killed on October 14 in a nearby forest.
Search operation in upper reaches of Bhaderwah
Since a group of militants are believed to have fled from Basantgarh area of Udhampur district after killing a Village Defence Guard (VDG) member recently, the Army and police have launched a massive search operation in upper reaches of Bhaderwah and Marmat areas of Doda district following report of few suspects in the area.
Security forces are on high alert in these areas.
According to the news agency, a group of terrorists fled after killing a VDG member in Panara village of Basantgarh on April 28. A massive manhunt was launched by security forces in Basantgarh but there was no trace of terrorists.
Now, the search operation is going on in the upper reaches of Bhaderwah and Marmat in Doda district.
Replying to a query about the search operation, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Doda Javed Iqbal said, “Yes, the search operation is going on.”
Meanwhile, sources said that there were reports of the presence of terrorists in the forest areas after which the search operation was launched.
“A group of two to three suspects were seen in the Mathola area in the upper reaches of Bhaderwah on May 2 after which the search operation was launched but so far nothing has been found. Security forces are still on high alert and are not letting any chance for terrorists to enter the district,” a source said.
Upper areas of Marmat and Bhaderwah are accessible from Basantgarh and terrorists in the past have used this route to commute between Marmat and upper reaches of Udhampur district. There are natural hideouts due to the dense forest and due to absence of any road connectivity, commuting becomes difficult.
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