Poonch: One soldier was killed, and four Indian Air Force soldiers were injured in a terror attack in the Poonch district of the Jammu region. A convoy of the Indian Air Force was attacked by terrorists in the Surankote area of Poonch district on Saturday evening. All five injured soldiers were evacuated to the Army's base hospital, where one soldier succumbed to his injuries.
Security forces, including the Indian army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, rushed to the spot where terrorists opened heavy fire on the IAF convoy. A massive cordon and search operation was launched by the forces to apprehend the attackers in the area. Initial reports suggest that two terrorists were involved in the attack.
This is the first major attack in the region this year, as Poonch and Rajouri saw multiple attacks last year. Security forces have been on high alert since then and have prevented any major attacks. The entire Poonch district has now been put on high alert.
The attack took place in the Shah Sattar forest area, which is densely covered with trees and falls between Surankote’s Sanai Top and Mendhar’s Gursai area of the border Poonch district.
This is the first major attack on the armed forces this year in the region, which witnessed a series of terror attacks on the army last year. Visuals from the attack site showed at least a dozen bullet holes on the windscreen of the vehicle that came under fire.
Sources said the injured air warriors were airlifted to Command Hospital Udhampur from Poonch within half an hour of the attack, while the other vehicles of the convoy had been secured and safely reached their destination.
In a statement, the Indian Air Force 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. Further operations are underway by the local security forces.”
Sources said a combing and search operation had been ongoing in the area between Mendhar and adjoining Surankote for the past few days following reports of movement of terrorists. During the searches, terrorists opened fire on a vehicle carrying Air Force personnel. The latter retaliated, and in the ensuing firefight, five personnel were injured. Reinforcements of police and security forces were rushed to the area as soon as reports of the attack came in.
A cordon and search operation has been initiated by the local Rashtriya Rifles unit to apprehend the perpetrators. The area has been cordoned off, and searches are in progress, sources said.
This is the second militant attack in the Pir Panjal region, spread over Rajouri and Poonch districts, in the last 12 days. A 40-year-old government employee was killed after unknown terrorists had opened fire on him near the Shahdra Sharief area of Thanamandi on April 22. The man was identified as Mohammad Raziq of Kunda Top, and his brother was reportedly a soldier in the Territorial Army.
On December 21, four soldiers had died in a terror attack on the Mughal Road between Dehra Ki Gali and Bufliaz in Poonch. In view of the upcoming parliamentary elections in the area, security forces and police have already launched cordon and search operations on a massive scale to flush out terrorists and their sympathizers. A few days before the Shahdra Sharief attack, the police and security forces, in a joint operation, had apprehended a school headmaster from the Hari Buddha area of Poonch and seized a Pakistan-made pistol along with ammunition as well as two Chinese grenades from his house.
Poonch is part of the Anantnag-Rajouri parliamentary constituency, which is going to polls in the sixth phase on May 25. Meanwhile, security and searches have intensified in Kathua, Doda, Udhampur, and Kishtwar after unknown terrorists killed a Village Security Guard on April 28 in Basantghar.
