Five Rashtriya Rifles jawans were killed and another injured in a terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district on Thursday. The incident took place about 7 km from Bhimber Gali, in the Line of Control (LoC), and the terrorists reportedly used rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles against the jawans travelling in a truck.
A preliminary investigation into the incident has revealed that no less than seven members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) group were involved. The area where the incident occurred is thickly forested and within the Indian side of the LoC. There were intelligence inputs to confirm the presence of Pakistan-based terrorists in the area. The jihadists were hiding in the jungles and waiting for an ambush on a convoy.
It is still not clear whether the truck caught fire due to a direct RPG hit or was set on fire by terrorists after the gunning down the Indian troopers. While Nagrota-based 16 Core has launched a massive manhunt for the terrorists in the sector, the incident has direct links to Pakistan's opposition to the G20 event in Srinagar in May. Over the past month, the Pakistan government has asked G20 members, particularly its 'iron-brother' China, to boycott the event.
“The incident has been deliberately planned by the Pakistani-deep state to instigate violence in Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh and deliberately spread fear among the delegates attending the G20 event,” said a senior J&K official. The attack is the fourth incident involving Indian Army casualties in the Poonch-Rajouri area.
The Indian Army has released the names of the five soldiers killed in the terrorist attack. They are Havildar Mandeep Singh, Lance Naik Debashish Baswal, Lance Naik Kulwant Singh, Sepoy Harkrishan Singh, and Sepoy Sewak Singh. The Army's 16 Corps based in Nagrota is currently conducting a search and cordon operation in the area to apprehend the terrorists.
The attack has once again highlighted the challenges faced by the Indian security forces in the region, which has been plagued by terrorist incidents and cross-border firing for several years. The Indian government has repeatedly accused Pakistan of supporting and financing terrorist groups operating in the region, a charge that Pakistan denies.