Published By: Aashi Sadana
Last Updated: April 23, 2023, 23:36 IST
Five Army personnel had been killed and one other was severely injured on Thursday after their automobile caught fireplace following a terrorist assault in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch. (File Photo/PTI)
They stated a sniper is believed to have focused the truck from the entrance earlier than the opposite terrorists sprayed bullets and lobbed grenades on it.
The terrorists who ambushed an Army truck in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch used metal core bullets, able to piercing an armoured defend, and decamped with the troopers’ weapons, officers stated on Sunday, amid intensified efforts to hint and neutralise the perpetrators.
They stated a sniper is believed to have focused the truck from the entrance earlier than the opposite terrorists sprayed bullets and lobbed grenades on it.
Five troopers had been killed and one injured after the terrorists attacked the lone Army truck, which was carrying eatables for iftar to a close-by village, within the dense forest space of Bhata Dhurian late on Thursday afternoon and the automobile caught fireplace.
The troopers had been from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations.
Experts from varied businesses, together with the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), have visited the location of the assault over the previous two days and have managed to get a transparent image of the lethal ambush which was laid by the terrorists, the officers stated.
They stated a sniper is believed to have focused the automobile from the entrance earlier than his associates showered bullets and lobbed grenades on the automobile from reverse sides, apparently giving the troops no time to retaliate.
The terrorists used metal core bullets that may penetrate an armoured defend, they stated.
Before fleeing, the terrorists stole the troopers’ arms and ammunition, they added.
Though the world the place the assault passed off is taken into account terrorism-free for lengthy, the Bhata Dhurian forest space stays a infamous infiltration route for terrorists trying to sneak into India by crossing the Line of Control (LoC) because of its topography, dense forest cowl and pure caves.
In October 2021, 9 troopers had been killed in two main gunfights with terrorists inside 4 days within the forest space throughout a search operation that continued for over three weeks.
Thursday’s ambush was additionally a grim reminder of a terrorist assault on the official automobile of a judicial Justice of the Peace over twenty years in the past. District and Sessions Judge V Ok Phool, a civilian and two police personnel had been killed within the assault which passed off on December 5, 2001, within the Dehra Ki Gali forests close to the Bhata Dhurian forests.
The officers stated over 12 folks have been detained for questioning in connection with the Poonch assault however no arrests have been made thus far.
Security forces are utilizing drones and sniffer canines to conduct a recce of the dense forest however success has eluded them thus far, they stated.
It is believed that the terrorists have managed to create protected hideouts within the dense forest to flee the safety dragnet or could have crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, they added.
According to the officers, preliminary experiences recommend the involvement of round 5 terrorists, together with some international mercenaries, within the assault.
After the ambush, the terrorists presumably used grenades in addition to sticky bombs that prompted the automobile to erupt into flames.
The officers stated those that executed the assault are believed to have been in Rajouri and Poonch for greater than a yr and had satisfactory data of the terrain, which is sort of powerful.
The space is a hotbed of Jammu and Kashmir Gaznavi Force (JKGF) as its ‘commander’ Rafiq Ahmed alias Rafiq Nayi is a resident of the world, they added.
At current, three to 4 terrorist teams are energetic within the area of Rajouri and Poonch, sources stated.
Banned terror group People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a proxy wing of Jaish-e-Mohammed, has claimed accountability for the assault. There are experiences suggesting that it was the handiwork of banned Lashker-e-Taiba group additionally. PTI COR SKL DIV DIV
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(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
