On Day three search operation continued in Sunjwan army camp
Jammu: The Army said on Monday that the search operation was underway in its Sunjwan camp, which was attacked by a group of suspected JeM militants, killing six persons, including five soldiers.
Three suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad militants involved in the attack were killed in the retaliatory action by the Army inside the camp and a large quantity of arms and ammunition was seized from them.
“The search operation is still on (at the camp),” Jammu- based Army public relations officer Lt Col Devender Anand said.
A group of heavily armed men struck the sprawling camp of the 36 brigade of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry before dawn on February 10. Five Army men, including two Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs), were killed in the attack.
Several blasts were heard inside the camp late last evening, breaking a lull after the initial exchange of fire, but the Army said the blasts were the result of sanitisation operation and there was no fresh contact with terrorists.
Parliamentary Affairs minister Abdul Rehman Veeri told the Legislative Assembly that the operation was in the final stages.
He said that the injured Army personnel included a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major.
The latest attack on the Army camp took place nearly 15 months after the Jammu region was hit by a similar attack.
The last terror attack in the Jammu region had taken place on November 29, 2016, when terrorists stormed the Army’s Nagrota camp on the outskirts of Jammu city, killing seven Army personnel including two officers.
Three suspected militants were also gunned down in the operation.
The militants had struck before dawn on Saturday and managed to sneak into the camp from the rear side of the base after a brief exchange of fire with the sentry on its periphery.
“The militants entered the family accommodation complex after which quick response teams cordoned off the area and isolated the terrorists, who are holed up in a few houses (inside the camp),” an official said.
Meanwhile, the government said that six persons including five soldiers and a civilian have been killed while eleven have been injured in the attack.
While making a statement in the House regarding the incident, the Minister for Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, A R Veeri said that on February 10, militants carried out a Fidayeen attack by opening indiscriminate fire and lobbed grenades inside the camp of 36 Brigade 1st JAKLI situated in Sunjwan Jammu.
He said soon after the attack, J&K Police rushed to the spot and cordoned off the whole area and later militants entered in JCO family quarters where they opened indiscriminate firing, and also exchange of firing between Army troops and militants took place. He said five Armymen namely Subedar Madan Lal Choudhary, Subedar Mohammad Ashraf Mir, Havaldar Habib-ullah Qureshi, Naik Manzoor Ahmed and Lance Naik Mohammad Iqbal of 1st JAKLI and father of L/NK Mohammad lqbal were killed.
He said eleven persons were also injured in the incident who have been identified as Lt Col Rohit Solanki of 6th Mahar, Maj Avijit Singh of 6th Mahar, L/NK Bahadur Singh of 1st JAKLI, Havaldar Abdul Hamid Rashid of 1st JAKLI, Paramjeet Kaur-relative of Hony Lt Madan Lal Choudhary, Neha D/O Hony Lt Madan Lal Choudhary, Somati Jena S/O Havaldar Haripoda Jena, PA to 36 Bde Cdr,(Head injury), W/O Hav Satyendra, 36 Bde Camp, Daughter of Hav Satyendra, 36 Bde Camp, Sub. Rajinder Singh of 6th Mahar and wife of Rifleman Nazir Ahmed. He said the injured wife of Riflemen Nazir Ahmad was pregnant and delivered a baby at MH Satwari.
He said 03 militants were also killed and firing stopped during night of February 11 at 0200 hrs and area is still under cordon- and is being sanitized. (With inputs from PTI)
KV Correspondent
