SRINAGAR: With barely a month before the G-20 meetings in Srinagar, terrorists on Thursday opened fire and threw grenades at an Army truck in the border district of Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir, killing five soldiers and critically injuring another.
The vehicle caught fire and was completely damaged. The five soldiers belonged to the Rashtriya Rifles unit and were deployed for counterinsurgency operations in the area. They have been identified as Havaldar Mandeep Singh, L/Nk Debashish Baswal, L/Nk Kulwant Singh, Sepoy Harkrishan Singh and Sepoy Sewak Singh.
The attack happened around 3 pm when the truck was moving between Bhimber Gali and Poonch in the Rajouri sector. Taking advantage of heavy rains and low visibility in the area, terrorists opened fire and lobbed grenades. Immediately after the attack, an Army contingent, the state police and the CRPF rushed to the area and launched a combing and search operation.
“Operations are in progress to locate the attackers,” officials said. Initial reports had suggested that a lightning strike may have caused the Army vehicle to catch fire. It is the first major terror attack on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir this year and comes ahead of the important G-20 Tourism Working Group meetings in Srinagar next month. On January 1-2, militants had killed seven civilians of the minority community in twin attacks in Rajouri’s Dangri village.
Jaish hand?
While no terror outfit has claimed responsibility, unconfirmed reports claim the People’s Anti-Fascist Front, a proxy organisation of the Jaish-e- Mohammed, could be behind it
Intelligence inputs
Former Jammu and Kashmir police chief Shesh Paul Vaid said there were intelligence inputs on thre possibility of a major terror attack in J&K in view of the G20 meetings