Five Indian Army soldiers have been killed in a major militant ambush in Rajouri-Poonch belt of Jammu and Kashmir.

Major Terrorist Attack On Indian Army Convoy

The attack occurred yesterday around 4.00 PM and three soldiers were initially declared dead while three were reported injured. But the death toll climbed to five last night while two soldiers were injured, news agency PTI reported.

“An operation was being conducted in the general area Dehra ki Gali since the night of December 20,” the Army said Thursday evening. “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. Own troops immediately retaliated. In the ongoing operation, our troops sustained three fatal and three non-fatal casualties.”

Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries later. Sources said two vehicles, a Gypsy and a mini-truck, were on their way from Bufliaz in Surankote to Thanamandi in Rajouri, where a Rashtriya Rifles unit is located.

Army personnel stand guard near the site where an Army vehicle was ambushed by terrorists, in Poonch district. (PTI)

The death toll in the militant attack on two Army vehicles near Dehra Ki Gali (DKG) in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir rose to five with one more soldier succumbing to his injuries late Thursday night.

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“An operation was being conducted in the general area Dehra ki Gali since the night of December 20,” the Army said Thursday evening. “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. Own troops immediately retaliated. In the ongoing operation, our troops sustained three fatal and three non-fatal casualties.”

Two soldiers succumbed to their injuries later.

Sources said two vehicles, a Gypsy and a mini-truck, were on their way from Bufliaz in Surankote to Thanamandi in Rajouri, where a Rashtriya Rifles unit is located. The banned People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), an offshoot of the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist outfit, claimed responsibility for the ambush.

Terror Attacks In J&K

Despite being declared terrorism-free more than a decade ago, the frontier districts of Rajouri and Poonch have recorded a concerning rise in Army fatalities, with 34 reported since October 2021. The toll for this year alone stood at 20 (till Thursday), making up 59% of the total. While four Army personnel died in the forests of Kokernag near Anantnag in September this year, there were 251 terrorist-initiated incidents in J&K between 2021 and May 30 this year, of which 15 were in the three districts of Jammu region and 236 in Kashmir Valley. This draws parallels to the attack on April 20, when a military truck carrying supplies for an Army-organised Iftar was ambushed, resulting in the loss of five soldiers. The PAFF had earlier released photos of the April attack, claiming responsibility.