Army Officer and Three Troopers Killed in Sixth Major Terror Attack in Jammu This Year
The firefight was triggered when the terrorists fired at a joint Rashtriya Rifles and Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) team
At least one army officer and three troopers succumbed to their injuries after they were critically injured in the sixth major terror attack in the Jammu region this year in Desa forests of the Doda district late on Monday, people aware of the matter said on Tuesday. The people added the officer, a major, was from the counter-insurgency unit 10 Rashtriya Rifles and that a policeman were among those injured.
There was no immediate official confirmation of the deaths from the army. In a post on X late on Monday, the army’s 16 Corps said a joint operation was in progress north of Doda based on specific intelligence inputs. “Contact with terrorists was established tonight [Monday] at about 2100h in which heavy firefight ensued. Initial reports suggest injuries to our bravehearts. Additional troops have been moved into the area.”
The firefight was triggered when the terrorists fired at a joint Rashtriya Rifles and Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) team involved in a cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in Desa forests, some 55 km from the Doda town.
The terrorists attempted to flee following an exchange of gunfire, but security forces pursued them through treacherous terrain and dense foliage. This led to another firefight in the woods around 9 pm on Monday.
The attack on Monday was the second in the Doda district since Tuesday last when an exchange of fire broke out between security forces and terrorists during a search operation in the Goli-Gadi forest. A day earlier, terrorists lobbed hand grenades and fired with automatic weapons at an army truck passing through Badnota village, around 250km away from the Doda firefight site, at Kathua in the Jammu region on Monday last.
Naib Subedar Anand Singh, Havaldar Kamal Singh, Rifleman Anuj Negi, Naik Vinod Singh, and Rifleman Adarsh Negi, who were all from Uttarakhand, were killed in the ambush. Five army personnel were injured in the attack.
Joint teams of the army, Central Reserve Police Force, and Jammu and Kashmir Police launched a search operation in Kathua and also pressed helicopters, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and sniffer dogs into service to locate the terrorists.
Police chief RR Swain conducted an aerial survey of the area and reviewed the operations. The perpetrators of the Kathua attack were believed to have recently infiltrated into the region from across the international border. They were believed to be linked to the April 28 Basangarh attack in which village defence guard Mohammad Sharief was killed.
Terror activity in areas south of the Pir Panjal mountains, including the Rajouri-Poonch sector, has spiked during the last two years. The army has sent more troops to the sector, reoriented its units, and strengthened the intelligence network for counterterror operations.
Security forces recalibrated their responses as Jammu, Rajouri, Poonch, and Reasi districts became clear targets for Pakistan-based terror groups
Seven soldiers were killed in counterterror operations in the Kashmir Valley last year compared to 20 in the Rajouri-Poonch sector. A total of 71 terrorists were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in 2023, including 51 in the Kashmir Valley and 20 in the Rajouri-Poonch area.
The Kathua attack came after twin gunbattles in the Kulgam district of Kashmir in which six terrorists and two soldiers were killed this month.
On June 9, armed terrorists attacked a pilgrim bus in Reasi leaving nine people dead and 42 others injured. Three terrorists were killed after a gunfight broke out between terrorists and security forces in the Gandoh area of Doda district on June 26.
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