The attack on the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district was the work of four Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) terrorists trained by Sajid Jutt, according to top intelligence sources.
“After the previous attacks, a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) was developed. As the forces retaliated strongly, the terrorists fled. Search is on,” said sources, adding, “The incident happened around 6 pm, when the convoy was returning to the air force station from Jaranwali. The IAF movement was possibly for the radar operations. Two people are in critical condition. Almost 17 terrorists in this area are from the Sajid Jutt group.”
One soldier, Corporal Vikky Pahade, was killed and four were injured as terrorists ambushed the IAF convoy, three weeks ahead of polling in the Anantnag-Rajouri Lok Sabha constituency. Poonch is part of the constituency, which goes to polls in the sixth phase on May 25.
Officials said five security personnel were injured, two of them critically, when four terrorists opened fire on IAF vehicles moving towards Sanai Top in Poonch’s Surankot area in the evening. One of the critically injured soldiers later succumbed at a military hospital during treatment, they said.
An Indian Air Force vehicle convoy was attacked by militants in the Poonch district of J-K, near Shahsitar. Cordon and search operations are underway presently in the area by local military units. The convoy has been secured, and further investigation is under progress,” the IAF said in a post on X.
“In the ensuing gunfight with terrorists, the Air Warriors fought back by returning fire. In the process, five IAF personnel received bullet injuries, and were evacuated to the nearest military hospital for immediate medical attention. One Air Warrior succumbed to his injuries later. Further operations are on by the local security forces,” it said in another post.
The officials suspect the involvement of the same group of terrorists who ambushed troops in adjoining Bufliaz on December 21 last year, leaving four soldiers dead and three injured. One of the trucks in the IAF convoy bore the maximum brunt of the attack, with several bullets hitting its windscreen and side. The terrorists, who were armed with AK assault rifles, are believed to have fled into the nearby forests, the officials said
The border district of Poonch along with adjoining Rajouri has witnessed some major terrorist attacks over the past two years, signalling the return of terror activities to the region, which was once cleared of terrorism and remained peaceful between 2003 and 2021. The latest incident in the Pir Panjal region follows the killing of government employee Mohd Razaq, brother of an Army personnel, by terrorists in Rajouri’s Kunda Top on April 22 and village defence guard Mohd Sharief in the Basantgarh area of Udhampur on April 28.
