NEW DELHI, Oct 28: At least one terrorist was killed when the army jawans returned fire after the terrorists allegedly fired upon Indian Army vehicles in the Jogwan area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Akhnoor city on Monday morning.
“The body of one terrorist along with weapon has been recovered. Operations are under progress,” the Army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps said in an update on the ongoing operation.
The action came after the terrorists, believed to be three in number, opened fire on an army convoy — a forces’ ambulance part of it suffering the maximum damage — around 6:30 am, the officials said.
“An encounter is underway in the Battal area of the Akhnoor sector of Jammu district. A heavy exchange of firing is currently underway. At least three terrorists who were spotted by locals had fired 15-20 rounds on Indian Army vehicles, including an ambulance in the area at the Battal area near the Shivassan temple in Jogwan today,” the army said. The area has a history of terrorist infiltration from the Manawar Tawi River and attacks on Army personnel.
The terrorists also disfigured idols in the Hassan temple in the area. The Indian Army has cordoned the area and launched a search operation for the perpetrators, although any contact is yet to be established.
The attack in Akhnoor on Monday took place days after two soldiers and two Army porters were killed when terrorists opened fire on an Army vehicle 6 km from the tourist hotspot Gulmarg in the Bota Pathri area on Thursday. Another porter and a soldier were injured in the attack.
On Friday, security forces deployed drones and helicopters for a massive search operation in the area and along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Gulmarg sector. Security forces were also using human and technical intelligence inputs to aid the search operation launched to trace and neutralise the terrorists behind the attack, officials said.
A senior police official on Saturday said three to four militants were believed to have carried out the deadly attack on an Army convoy in the Gulmarg sector as the search operation resumed for the second day. “According to the evidence we got from there, 3-4 militants were involved in the attack,” said Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Baramulla, Mohammad Zaid Malik.
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed a spike of terror incidents recently. Last week, six non-local labourers and a local doctor were killed when terrorists fired indiscriminately upon them at the Z-Morh tunnel construction site in the Gagangir area of central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. Before that, a labourer from Bihar was shot dead by terrorists in Shopian district on October 18.
(Manas Dasgupta)