Jammu: Security forces on Monday gunned down one of the terrorists involved in a sneak attack on an ambulance that was part of an Army convoy in a swift and meticulous counteroffensive in the Akhnoor area close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu district, officials said.
“The body of one terrorist along with a weapon has been recovered. Operations are under progress,” Army’s Nagrota (Jammu)-based 16 Corps -also called White Knight Corps- said in a post on X.
A defence spokesman here said that the terrorists fired upon the Army convoy near Asan in the Sunderbani sector of the LoC on Monday morning. “A swift retaliation by troops foiled the attempt and thereby ensured no injuries were inflicted on anyone on board,” he said, adding that the area was quickly cordoned off, and a search operation was launched to neutralise the terrorists.
An Army dog was killed in the ongoing fire fight, the defence spokesman said. “We salute the supreme sacrifice of our true hero—a valiant Indian Army dog, Phantom,” the spokesman said.
He added, “As our troops were closing in on the trapped terrorists, Phantom drew enemy fire, sustaining fatal injuries. His courage, loyalty, and dedication will never be forgotten”.
The police sources here said the gunmen, believed to be the part of a fresh group of infiltrating militants, attacked the Army ambulance at a place called Jogwan. The ambulance was hit by over a dozen bullets and those on board had a close shave with death, the sources said, adding that after targeting the Army ambulance, the assailants fled into nearby woods in the face of a strong retaliation by the troops.
“Soon the Army troops joined by the J&K police laid siege to the area and started searches during which contact was established with the terrorists hiding in the Bhattal forest area,” the sources said, adding that in the ensuing encounter one of the three to four three terrorists has been killed in the ongoing operation. The Army sources said the operation is being suspended for the night to avoid collateral damage.
The Army’s Special Forces were preparing for a final assault on the terrorists holed up in the besieged area most likely at the first light on Tuesday.
The local sources said that the militants who were believed to have infiltrated into the Jammu district from across the LoC had at around 7 am on Monday entered a temple (Asan Mandir) at Jowan and were 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.
This was the second such attack on an Army convoy in J&K in the past week.
On the evening of October 24, 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.
