Two soldiers of 18 Rashtriya Rifles and two civilians, working as porters with the Army, were killed in a terror attack near the Nagin area of the Botapathri along the Line of Actual Control (LoC) close to Gulmarg in north Kashmir. They died in a terrorist ambush on a military vehicle which was carrying supplies.
Three other soldiers of the 18 Rashtriya Rifles and two other porters were injured in the fourth terrorist attack since the new coalition government led by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took charge on October 16.
The terrorists carried out an ambush on the Army vehicle when it reached the remote Botapathri area. Soon after, counter operations were launched by the security forces.
Terrorist attack in J&K after LG holds security review meet
The terrorist attack in Gulmarg on Thursday evening came within hours after Lt Governor Manoj Sinha chaired a Unified Headquarters (UHQ) meeting in Srinagar to review the security situation in the wake of back to back attacks in the past one week.
After Thursday’s attack, LG Manoj Sinha directed Army officials to give a swift response to eliminate terrorists.
“Spoke to top Army officials on the heinous terror attack in Botpathri Sector. Directed for swift and befitting reply to neutralise terrorists. Operation in progress. Sacrifice of our martyrs will not go in vain. Condolences to their families. Praying for speedy recovery of injured,” the LG said.
A report by The Indian Express quoted sources as saying that the two porters, who died in the attack, were identified as Mushtaq Ahmad and Zahoor Ahmad They both were residents of Boniyar in Baramulla district of north Kashmir.
India Today quoted sources in a report as saying that the role of Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT), specialised units that have previously carried out various cross-border attacks, has not been ruled out.
CM Omar Abdullah condemned the attack and said that the recent increase in terrorist attacks in Kashmir is a “matter of serious concern.”
According to a report by The Times of India, with the latest deaths, the total number of security forces killed in terrorist attacks since May this year has risen to 24 – six in Kashmir and 18 in Jammu.
Meanwhile, 20 terrorists have been eliminated by the security forces during this period.
Fourth terrorist attack in J&K in a week
There has been a sudden spike in terrorist attacks in Kashmir, with the latest attack occurring on Thursday.
The attack came a mere days after six non-local workers and a local doctor of APCO Infratech were killed by terrorists who attacked on their campsite on Sunday evening at Gagangir in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district. The workers were part of a construction team building the strategic Z-Morh tunnel.
On Thursday morning, a teenage barber from Uttar Pradesh was shot at and injured by terrorists at Batagund village in the Tral area of Pulwama district, south Kashmir.
On October 18, a non-local worker was killed by terrorists in Zainapora village of south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
With inputs from agencies.
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J&K: 2 soldiers, 2 civilians killed in fourth terrorist attack in a week
