JAMMU: Four soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), and a J&K police constable were killed Monday in a terrorist ambush on a military patrol truck in the remote village of Badnota in Kathua district. Six other soldiers were wounded in the attack, which marks a month of escalating terror-related violence in the Jammu division, beginning with four attacks on June 9, 11, and 12.
The ambush pattern resembled previous attacks on military convoys in Jammu, including an ambush on two IAF vehicles on May 4 in Poonch district that resulted in the death of Corporal Vikky Pahade. Last year, similar attacks in Poonch and Rajouri districts on Dec 21 and Nov 22 claimed the lives of nine soldiers, including two captains.
Monday’s ambush is the second major terror attack in Kathua this year, after a June 11 shootout at Seda Sohal village in Hiranagar left a CRPF constable and two suspected Pakistani terrorists dead.
According to a security source, the attack occurred around 3:30pm on Machedi-Kindli-Malhar road near Badnota in Lohai Malhar, approximately 120km from Kathua district headquarters and 230km from Jammu city. “An Army truck was on routine patrol when it came under attack with grenades and heavy gunfire,” the source said.
The wounded men were shifted to a sub-district hospital in Billawer, while two soldiers with critical bullet wounds were taken to a military hospital. Names of the slain soldiers weren’t disclosed till the filing of this report.
Following the ambush, the terrorists fled into nearby forests. Reinforcements were dispatched, and a search operation is underway for the attackers, believed to be three heavily armed men who recently entered the Jammu region from Pakistan. Officials said the route used by the terrorists was likely a conduit into the hinterland from across the border.
Combined teams of Army, J&K police, and paramilitary personnel are pursuing the terrorists in the dense jungle and mountainous terrain.
The ambush pattern resembled previous attacks on military convoys in Jammu, including an ambush on two IAF vehicles on May 4 in Poonch district that resulted in the death of Corporal Vikky Pahade. Last year, similar attacks in Poonch and Rajouri districts on Dec 21 and Nov 22 claimed the lives of nine soldiers, including two captains.
Monday’s ambush is the second major terror attack in Kathua this year, after a June 11 shootout at Seda Sohal village in Hiranagar left a CRPF constable and two suspected Pakistani terrorists dead.
According to a security source, the attack occurred around 3:30pm on Machedi-Kindli-Malhar road near Badnota in Lohai Malhar, approximately 120km from Kathua district headquarters and 230km from Jammu city. “An Army truck was on routine patrol when it came under attack with grenades and heavy gunfire,” the source said.
The wounded men were shifted to a sub-district hospital in Billawer, while two soldiers with critical bullet wounds were taken to a military hospital. Names of the slain soldiers weren’t disclosed till the filing of this report.
Following the ambush, the terrorists fled into nearby forests. Reinforcements were dispatched, and a search operation is underway for the attackers, believed to be three heavily armed men who recently entered the Jammu region from Pakistan. Officials said the route used by the terrorists was likely a conduit into the hinterland from across the border.
Combined teams of Army, J&K police, and paramilitary personnel are pursuing the terrorists in the dense jungle and mountainous terrain.
