Suspected Terrorists Fire Upon Army Vehicles in J-K's Poonch; No One Injured

Poonch/Jammu: Suspected terrorists fired upon a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday evening, prompting security forces to launch a search operation, officials said.There were no casualties among the security personnel, they said.

"At around 1800 hours today, a security forces convoy of vehicles was fired upon by suspected terrorists from a jungle near Krishna Ghati in Poonch sector," the White Night Corps of the Army said on X.

"A joint search operation by the Indian Army and police is in progress," it said.

The vehicles that came under attack were carrying security personnel back to the camp, the officials said.

A senior police officer said no one was injured in the incident and the commanding officer as well as other Army personnel were safe. A search operation has been launched in the area, he added.

The incident came after a high-level security meeting chaired by Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Upendra Dwivedi to chart out an anti-terror operation plan for the new year to foil the design of terrorists in the region.

A similar ambush on Army vehicles took place in Poonch's Dhatya Morh in the Dera Ki Gali area on December 21. Four Army personnel were killed in the attack.

Rajouri and Poonch districts, which were peaceful in the past, have witnessed targeted attacks by the terrorists on the army and civilians, they said.

Nineteen soldiers were killed in four attacks by the terrorists in Rajouri and Poonch in 2023. However, the security forces eliminated more than 30 terrorists in the two districts last year both on the Line of Control as well as in the hinterland.

During the last fortnight, high-level security meetings were chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to deal with the situation in the Rajouri-Poonch region.