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The terrorists apparently used Chinese-made grenades and assault rifles to attack the Army truck after forcing it to stop by placing logs of wood on the road on the densely forested ridge at Bhata Dhurian, just a few km from the Line of Control, while it was on its way to Sangiot from Bhimber Gali at around 3pm.
There were prior intelligence reports that Pakistan-backed terrorists would conduct attacks with grenades or IEDs (improvised explosive devices) in the run-up to a G20 event in Srinagar next month.
“But the intelligence inputs were general in nature. It’s too early to conclusively say whether the terrorists were from Jaish-e-Muhammed or Lashkar-e-Taiba,” an officer said.
03:28
J-K: 5 Army Jawans killed after terrorists lob grenades at their vehicle in Poonch
The terror attack, incidentally, took place on the day Pakistan announced that foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari would attend the SCO foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa on May 4-5.
On Friday, the Army, in conjunction with the special operations group of J&K police and the CRPF, was conducting the major manhunt. “Multiple teams, backed by drones, surveillance helicopters and sniffer dogs, are conducting combing operations in the thickly forested region,” an officer said.
04:12
Poonch terror attack: Chinese made 7.62 mm steel core bullets recovered
“The terrorists must have conducted prior recce operations before undertaking the ambush on Thursday. The truck was fired upon from three sides, with the terrorists taking advantage of the low visibility and bad weather in the area,” he added.
With the Army maintaining a strong counter-infiltration grid along the 778-km-long LoC, officers say attempts are being made to push militants, arms and drugs in the south of the Pir Panjal region as well as across the international border in the Jammu sector and Punjab.
Though the border ceasefire with Pakistan has largely held since the truce was renewed by the rival DGMOs in February 2021, the terror infrastructure across the border remains “fully intact”, they added.
01:03
NIA visits site of Poonch terror attack for inspection
An NIA team, meanwhile, visited the attack site and began a probe on Friday, while BSF DG Dr S L Thaosen reviewed the security situation at the international border. A BSF spokesperson said IGP (Jammu) D K Boora made a detailed presentation to the DG. “IG Jammu described the general security scenario of the area of responsibility, covering the deployment pattern of BSF battalions and their robust domination aspects along the complete Jammu IB,” the BSF spokesperson said.
“A high alert has been sounded in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch amid a close vigil along the LoC, while Army and police teams have secured their respective perimeters in the general forest spreading across Bhata Dhurian, Sanjote, Tota Gali, Nar and adjoining areas. Traffic on the Bhimber Gali-Poonch road was stopped following the incident and people have been advised to go to Poonch via Mendhar,” officials said.
The soldiers killed in Thursday’s attack are Havildar Mandeep Singh of Chankoian Kacan village, Ludhiana; Sepoy Harkrishan Singh of Talwandi Barth, Batala; Lance Naik Kulwant Singh of Charik, Moga; Sepoy Sewak Singh of Bagha, Bathinda; and Lance Naik Debashish of Algum Samil Khandayat, Puri, Odisha.
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