A fidayeen attack by suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists was repulsed by the Army in Rajouri district, who gunned down two suicide attackers on Thursday morning.
Four army soldiers were martyred in the attack which lasted for four hours while two more soldiers, including an officer, were injured.
The attack took place four days ahead of the Independence Day and it marks the return of suicide attackers to Jammu and Kashmir after a gap of more than three years. The last suicide attack in J&K took place on February 14, 2019 at Lethpora in south Kashmir’s Pulwama which resulted in the killing of more than 40 CRPF personnel while more than four dozen paramilitary troopers were wounded.
A senior police officer said the terrorists carried out a 'fidayeen' attack on an Army camp in Pargal village of Rajouri’s Darhal at around 2 in the night when it was raining heavily in the area.
"In the early hours on Thursday, alert sentries of the Indian Army post at Parghal, in Rajouri district detected suspicious persons approaching their post taking advantage of the inclement weather and dense foliage," PRO (defence) Jammu Lt Col Devender Anand said.
Anand said the soldiers deployed at the post for night duty challenged the two terrorists, who retaliated by lobbing grenades while trying to gain access inside the post.
However, the exchange of gunfire and explosions woke up the other soldiers who laid a cordon around the area and engaged the Jaish terrorists, killing them, “In the ensuing gunfight, the two terrorists were neutralised. Six soldiers of Indian Army were injured in the operation and of them, four bravehearts succumbed to injuries while repulsing the suicide attack,” he said.
The police officer said the martyred soldiers have been identified as subedar Rajendra Prasad, a resident of Maligoven village in Rajasthan's Jhunjhunu district, rifleman Lakshmanan D, a native of T Pudupatti village in Madurai district of Tamil Nadu , rifleman Manoj Kumar, who was from Shahjahanpur village in Haryana's Faridabad and rifleman Nisanth Malik
Anand said the Indian Army salutes the bravehearts for their supreme sacrifice in line of duty, upholding the highest tradition of the force. “The nation will always remain indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty,” he said.
Official sources and local living in the vicinity of the Army camp which was targeted by terrorists claimed to have heard the first gunshot at around 2 am. This was the time, officials said, when the terrorists tried to breach the external fence of the camp.
The gunfight between the two sides continued till 6 am when more reinforcements had been called to the site and a sustained attack was launched to take out the perpetrators.
After the operation was called off, a cordon and search operation was launched in the area amid suspicions about the presence of more terrorists in the area.
Following the attack, security forces have been put on a high alert in Rajouri-Poonch belt and operations are underway to ensure than any further attacks are prevented, with the Independence Day barely four days away.
This is the first major attack by Pakistan based Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists who on April 22 struck in Jammu when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to visit the area. However, two perpetrators preparing to carry out the attack were killed in a chance encounter. A CISF officer of the paramilitary force was also killed in the attack near the Sunjawan Army camp.
On May 8, a terrorist was killed as the Army foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Laam area of Rajouri district. There were several blasts in Rajouri district in April and May.