Army personnel keep vigil near the site after terrorists fired at an ambulance that was part of an Army convoy passing through a village near the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K's Akhnoor sector, in Jammu, Monday. (PTI Photo)
Jammu: The Army said on Tuesday that all the three militants involved in the previous day’s sneak attack on an ambulance that was part of a military convoy in the Akhnoor area of Jammu and Kashmir have been killed in the counteroffensive launched by its men. With the killing of the trio, the gunfight between the two sides ended after 27 hours but the mopping up operation continued in the area falling close to the Line of Control (LoC), reports said.
“One terrorist was killed on Monday afternoon and two others were gunned down in the final assault launched by the Special Forces at the first light on Tuesday,” an Army official said. The operation had been suspended for the night to avoid collateral damage, he added.
Confirming it, the Army’s Nagrota (Jammu)-based 16 Corps-also called White Knight Corps- in a post on ‘X’ said, “After round the clock surveillance throughout the night, an intense firefight unfolded today morning resulting in a significant victory for our forces”. It added, “Relentless operations and tactical excellence has led to the elimination of three terrorists. The operation also saw the successful recovery of war-like stores, marking a critical step in maintaining security in the region.”
The group of heavily armed militants who was believed to have infiltrated into the Jammu district from across the LoC during the intervening night of October 27 and 28 had at around 7 am on Monday entered a temple (Asan Mandir) at Jogwan area of Akhnoor’s Sunderbani sector and were, as per locals, desperately looking for a mobile phone to make a call. When they saw an Army convoy passing by, they opened fire hitting the ambulance that was a part of it. The ambulance was hit by over a dozen bullets and those on board had a close shave with death, the officials had said.
The Army troops strongly retaliated to the attack, forcing the trio to flee into the nearby woods, the Army had said. A “swift and meticulous” operation was launched by the Army reinforcements to take on the militants. Later the Special Forces joined the effort and also Army tanks were moved to prevent the militants from escaping the dragnet.
While the troops were taking on the militants, a four-year-old Army dog Phantom was killed after being hit by a barrage of gunfire. “As our troops were closing in on the trapped terrorists, Phantom drew enemy fire, sustaining fatal injuries,” a defence spokesman here said, adding “His courage, loyalty, and dedication will never be forgotten”.
This was the second such attack on an Army convoy in J&K in the past week. On the evening of October 2, a group of militants targeted a small Army convoy with automatic weapons near its Nigeen Post in Gulmarg’s Botapathri area close to the LoC in the Kashmir Valley’s Baramulla district. In this attack, five people including three soldiers and two civilian porters were killed, and three other soldiers were injured. Earlier on October 20, a local doctor and six construction workers-both local and non-local- were killed and several others injured in a terror attack at Gagangir along the Srinagar-Ladakh highway in the Valley’s Ganderbal district.
“One terrorist was killed on Monday afternoon and two others were gunned down in the final assault launched by the Special Forces at the first light on Tuesday,” an Army official said. The operation had been suspended for the night to avoid collateral damage, he added.
Confirming it, the Army’s Nagrota (Jammu)-based 16 Corps-also called White Knight Corps- in a post on ‘X’ said, “After round the clock surveillance throughout the night, an intense firefight unfolded today morning resulting in a significant victory for our forces”. It added, “Relentless operations and tactical excellence has led to the elimination of three terrorists. The operation also saw the successful recovery of war-like stores, marking a critical step in maintaining security in the region.”
The group of heavily armed militants who was believed to have infiltrated into the Jammu district from across the LoC during the intervening night of October 27 and 28 had at around 7 am on Monday entered a temple (Asan Mandir) at Jogwan area of Akhnoor’s Sunderbani sector and were, as per locals, desperately looking for a mobile phone to make a call. When they saw an Army convoy passing by, they opened fire hitting the ambulance that was a part of it. The ambulance was hit by over a dozen bullets and those on board had a close shave with death, the officials had said.
The Army troops strongly retaliated to the attack, forcing the trio to flee into the nearby woods, the Army had said. A “swift and meticulous” operation was launched by the Army reinforcements to take on the militants. Later the Special Forces joined the effort and also Army tanks were moved to prevent the militants from escaping the dragnet.
While the troops were taking on the militants, a four-year-old Army dog Phantom was killed after being hit by a barrage of gunfire. “As our troops were closing in on the trapped terrorists, Phantom drew enemy fire, sustaining fatal injuries,” a defence spokesman here said, adding “His courage, loyalty, and dedication will never be forgotten”.
This was the second such attack on an Army convoy in J&K in the past week. On the evening of October 2, a group of militants targeted a small Army convoy with automatic weapons near its Nigeen Post in Gulmarg’s Botapathri area close to the LoC in the Kashmir Valley’s Baramulla district. In this attack, five people including three soldiers and two civilian porters were killed, and three other soldiers were injured. Earlier on October 20, a local doctor and six construction workers-both local and non-local- were killed and several others injured in a terror attack at Gagangir along the Srinagar-Ladakh highway in the Valley’s Ganderbal district.
The Army’s Northern Command Chief Lt. Gen. MV Suchinder Kumar has complimented the White Knight Corps for its “swift action and precise execution” in the Asan operation, neutralising three terrorists and recovering war-like stores. He reiterated, “The Indian Army stands by its commitment to keep J&K terror-free”.
( Source : Deccan Chronicle )
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