Following an attack by terrorists on army vehicles transporting operating teams in a densely forested area on Thanamandi Surankote road, which connects the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch via the Dehra Ki Gali (DKG) tourist site, four army men lost their lives and three others were injured on Thursday.
The incident happened as the army was conducting an operation in the region in response to information about suspicious terrorist movements.
“The incident occurred at around 3.30 pm this afternoon when army vehicles, carrying operational teams, were on way towards Bufliyaz from Dehra Ki Gali,” according to official sources.
According to officials, these cars were travelling on the Thanamandi-Surankote route, which links to Mughal route, from DKG to Bufliyaz side.
The incident site is around three kilometers away from Bufliyaz, which is the take off point of Mughal Road.
“While the vehicle carrying operational teams were on way to Bufliyaz, terrorists fired indiscriminately on these vehicles at Danar Sawaniya morh area which is surrounded by dense forest everywhere,” the official sources said.
“Heavy exchange of fire took place at the site of the incident but terrorists managed to escape in the nearby forest,” they added.
“In the incident, four army personnel have lost their lives while three others are injured. They all have been shifted to the local army hospital and are under treatment there,” official sources said.
They went on to reveal that the corpses of the four soldiers who died were taken from the scene and taken to the closest army base.
In the meantime, a sizable contingent of the army and police has been stationed in the encircled area to monitor the whereabouts of the three or so suspected terrorists.
The names of the army members who perished in this attack are Gautam Kumar, Chandan Kumar, Karan Kumar, and Birendar Singh.
“An operation was being conducted in the general area of Dehra Ki Gali (DKG) since the night of December 20,” the Army stated in an official statement.
“At approximately 3.45 pm on December 21, two army vehicles carrying troops were moving to the operational site which were fired upon by terrorists. The fire was immediately retaliated upon by own troops,” army said.
“In the ongoing operation, own troops sustained three fatal and three non-fatal casualties. Operation is in progress and further details are being ascertained,” the army statement read.
This is the second major incident on the counter-terror front in areas of Rajouri, Poonch during the last one month. Earlier on November 23 and 24, an encounter took place at Baaji Maal, Barevi in Kalakote area of Rajouri district in which five army personnel including two officers lost their lives while two terrorists were killed.
