5 Army Personnel Killed, 1 Injured In Blast By Terrorists During Encounter In J-K's Rajouri

On specific information about presence of terrorists in Kandi Forest in Rajouri Sector, a joint operation was launched on May 3. On May 5, a search team established contact with a group of terrorists.

The Indian Army has been conducting relentless intelligence-based operations to flush out a group of terrorists involved in an ambush on an army truck in the Tota Gali area of Bhata Dhurian in the Jammu region, despite incessant rains and bad weather. The terrorists triggered an explosive device in retaliation where the Army team suffered five fatal casualties and another soldier suffered injuries. Two soldiers were killed earlier while three out of four soldiers who were injured succumbed to their injuries later.   

On specific information about the presence of terrorists in the Kandi Forest in Rajouri Sector, a joint operation was launched on 03 May 2023. At about 0730 hours on 05 May 2023, a search team established contact with a group of terrorists well entrenched in a cave. The area is thickly vegetated with rocky and steep cliffs.

Army said that additional teams from the vicinity have been directed to the site of the encounter. The injured personnel have been evacuated to Command Hospital, Udhampur. 

In another such tragic incident, two army personnel were killed as the ambulance they were in skidded off the road and plunged into a gorge in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district on April 29, reported PTI citing officials. This comes days after terrorists ambushed an Army truck on April 20 using steel core bullets and stole the soldiers’ weapons. Five soldiers were killed and one was left injured in the terrorist attack on the lone Army truck. The incident took place when the truck was transporting eatables. 

According to officials, the terrorists used grenades and sticky bombs to set the vehicle on fire. They further said the terrorists also used steel core bullets with the ability to pierce through the armoured trucks. Officials further stated the terrorists stole the soldiers' arms and ammunition before fleeing the spot. 

A lesser-known offshoot of Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) terror outfit calling itself People's Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) had owned responsibility for the attack.

In a significant breakthrough in the recent Poonch attack investigation, the security forces traced and detained the local who provided shelter to the terrorists who killed five Army soldiers, according to IANS. The security forces traced and detained a local named Nisar Ahmad as the massive search operation entered its sixth day. Nisar had provided shelter to the terrorists for more than two months before they carried out the attack.

"The leads to trace the harbourer of the terrorists came through questioning of 50 people detained during the search operation”, sources told IANS.

"After sustained interrogation, Nasir Ahmad confessed that he sheltered the terrorists for more than two months prior to the attack on the Army personnel," they added.