On April 20, Nasir Ahmed, a villager detained by the Indian Army, confessed that he provided four terrorists with shelter and logistical support for two months before the attack in Bhata Durian in Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) Poonch district.
He is one of the residents held for questioning. It was reported that it is unable to determine whether Nasir Ahmed was an ‘overground worker’ who carried out terrorist attacks on behalf of terror organisation and then revert to their regular lives or if he assisted the terrorists under coercion.
The vehicle was transporting six soldiers and food supplies from Bhimber Gali military camp to Sangiote for an Iftar organised by the Rashtriya Rifles when the truck was ambushed by the terrorists sheltering behind a culvert. The truck was attacked with grenades and gunshots which set ablaze the truck.
Furthermore, it was reported that one soldier was wounded while five others were martyred in the terrorist attack. It was revealed that a sharpshooter killed the truck’s driver and armour piercing bullets were used to attack the truck. It was reported that the truck was riddled with about fifty bullet holes. Furthermore, the terrorists stole the arms and ammunitions from the truck.
“An Army vehicle moving between Bhimber Gali and Poonch in the Rajouri sector in J-K was fired upon by unidentified terrorists today. The vehicle caught fire, due to the likely use of grenades by terrorists,” the army said in its statement. “Five personnel of the Rashtriya Rifles Unit deployed for Counter Terrorist operations, in this area, have unfortunately lost their lives in the incident,” it added.
The security forces have been searching for the terrorists with metal detectors, sniffer dogs, ariel drones and helicopters for the past six days, however, no terrorist has been caught yet. Furthermore, the search is carried out throughout twelve zones in the neighbourhood, especially in the areas around Rajouri and Poonch.
It is possible that the terrorist have placed homemade landmines in the area, therefore, the search crews are very cautious. The Northern Commanding Officer (GOC) of the Northern Command, Lt General Upendra Dwivedi, visited the two districts near the border with Pakistan on April 26, 2023, to assess the search.
This was his second visit in less than a week. The attack has been attributed to the outlawed Peoples Anti-Fascist Front (PAFP), a division of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group operating in Jammu and Kashmir and neighbouring Pakistan.
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