Toll in attack on Army camp rises to 6

Sunjwan (Jammu): The toll in a terrorist attack on Sunjwan Army camp rose to six with the deaths of three more Army personnel and a civilian even as the operation to flush out the JeM militants entered the second day today.

A group of heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists had struck the sprawling camp of the 36 brigade of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry early yesterday, triggering a gunbattle. Two Army personnel, including a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) were killed yesterday.

A top police official said three more Army men and a civilian, who was the father of an Army personnel, were killed, taking the toll to six. Two of the attackers in combat gear were gunned down yesterday. “The operation is on and the evacuation (of people from the family quarters) is in progress,” Jammu-based Army PRO Lt Col Devender Anand told PTI.

He said a number of families were still there and the Army’s aim was to ensure their safety. “There was no firing since last night,” the officer said, adding that bodies of only two terrorists were recovered from the encounter site.

The latest attack on the camp took place nearly 15 months after the Jammu region was hit by a similar attack. On November 29, 2016, terrorists had stormed the Army’s Nagrota camp on the outskirts of the city, killing seven Army personnel including two officers. Three terrorists were also gunned down.

The terrorists had struck before dawn yesterday and managed to sneak into the camp from the rear side of the base after a brief exchange of fire with the sentry on its periphery. “The terrorists entered the family accommodation complex after which quick response teams cordoned off the area and isolated the terrorists, who are holed up in a few houses (inside the camp),” officials said.

While there was no action around the main entrance and vehicles were moving along the Jammu-Lakhanpur bypass in front of the camp, Army personnel in bullet-proof vehicles engaged in the operation to rescue people from the family quarters in the rear side of the base.

Contingents of CRPF and police were posted outside the boundary wall and were keeping curious onlookers at bay to avoid civilian casualties. A high alert has been sounded in Jammu and security beefed up in and around the city.

Intelligence inputs had warned of an attack on an Army or security establishment by Jaish-e-Mohammed in view of the death anniversary of Afzal Guru who was hanged on February 9, 2013.