Jammu: Four soldiers were killed and three injured when heavily armed terrorists ambushed two Army vehicles in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir Thursday, officials said.
The vehicles, carrying the personnel to the site of a cordon-and-search operation, came under attack at Dhatyar Morh between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz under the jurisdiction of Surankote police station around 3.45 pm, according to officials.
A defence spokesperson said a joint search operation was launched in the general area of Dhera Ki Gali in Poonch district Wednesday night based on “hard intelligence” about the presence of terrorists and an encounter ensued there.
As additional forces were moving to the site, the terrorists fired upon the vehicles — a truck and a Gypsy — killing three soldiers and seriously injuring three others, the officials said.
Reinforcements were rushed to the site of the ambush and a massive anti-terrorist operation was launched.
Disturbing images and videos emerging from the site showed blood on the street, broken helmets of soldiers, and shattered windscreens of the two Army vehicles.
The officials said there was a possibility that terrorists had walked away with arms of the targeted soldiers.
The stretch between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz on the boundary of Rajouri and Poonch districts is densely forested and leads to Chamrer forest and then Bhata Dhurian forest, where five soldiers were killed in an ambush on an Army vehicle April 20 this year.
In May, five more Army personnel were killed and a major-rank officer was injured in Chamrer forest during an anti-terrorist operation. A foreign terrorist was also killed in the operation.
Earlier in October 2021, nine soldiers were killed in two separate attacks by terrorists in the forested region. While five Army personnel, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), were killed on October 11 in Chamrer, a JCO and three soldiers were killed October 14 in a nearby forest.
PTI