Four Indian Army soldiers were killed and two other were injured when heavily armed terrorists ambushed two Army vehicles in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said. Terrorists attacked two military vehicles in the Thanamandi area in the Rajouri sector, according to Army Officials.
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.
Encounter at Dhera Ki Gali
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. The first update was that three Army personnel were killed and three injured in the terrorist attack. One soldier succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning (December 22).
Disturbing visuals surface
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 on April 20 this year.
Past incidents
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 on October 14 in a nearby forest.
