Confusion over J&K attack

SRINAGAR: In the late Sunday night militant attack one Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was killed and another wounded in Jammu and Kashmir’s border town of Baramulla.

The militants who targeted the camp of 46 Rashtriya Rifles and an outpost of the BSF’s 40th Battalion at Janbazpora of Baramulla around 10.30 pm with automatic rifles, however, escaped from the scene.

This has come as a huge embarrassment to the security forces. Some of the officials are now saying it was a ‘shoot and scoot’ strike and that the BSF jawans may have died in “friendly fire” instead.  

Baramulla’s Senior Superintendent of Police Imtiyaz Hussain said that the Army and the BSF foiled the militants’ attempt to storm the Army camp and that in the exchange of fire which last for about 90 minutes, BSF jawans Nitin and Palwinder were injured. He added that both of them were rushed to Baramulla’s military hospital where Nitin succumbed to his injuries soon.

The SSP said that the militants took advantage of darkness to escape after carrying out the attack. They melted into darkness and disappeared into the nearby residential area, he said adding that the security forces could not retaliate in a heavy manner fearing civilian casualties.

Some of the officials said it could be a ‘shoot and scoot’ strike and that the BSF jawans may have died in “friendly fire”

Elaborating, they said that the sentry at the BSF outpost spotted some suspicious movement near the open kitchen area and started firing apprehending that militants may have entered into the camp. The firing led to panic in adjacent 46 RR camp where the jawans also started firing in the direction in which suspected militants were believed to have entered.

After 90 minutes of firing, illuminators were used to light up the sky but no militant was found. According to these officials, it is therefore not clear if the BSF men fell victim to ‘friendly fire’ or to the bullets fired by militants.

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