A day after militants attacked an Indian Air Force convoy, near Shahsitar near Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, security and police forces continued their joint search operations in the forest areas on May 3, 2024 with the help of helicopters and drones to track down those responsible. Five IAF personnel were injured in the attack. They were quickly evacuated to the Command Hospital in Udhampur, where one of them, Corporal Vikky Pahade died of injuries.
“The CAS Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and all the personnel of the IAF salute the Braveheart Vikky Pahade who made the supreme sacrifice in Poonch sector, in the service of the nation. Our deepest condolences to the bereaved family. We stand firmly by our side in this hour of grief,” the IAF said in a post on the social media platform X.
Until late evening, no contact was established with the militants said sources, adding that the search operations in Jarranwali Gali and adjoining areas would continue. Nearly half a dozen people were picked up by police from the Sanai area for questioning. Earlier in the day, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Anand Jain visited the area.
Giving the details of attack, sources say the truck which was targeted by the militants was the last of the three vehicles moving from Jarranwali Gali to Shahsitar top where the IAF has a base. After the first two vehicles passed, the militants who took positions above the hills along the roads, opened fire hitting the front windscreen of the last vehicles. As the vehicles stopped the militants tined their guns to the side of the vehicles injuring the IAF personnel.
However timely retaliation by the IAF personnel made the militants flee to the nearby forests. This was the second militant attack in Pir Panjal Region and spread over Rajouri and Poonch district in less than a fortnight. On April 22, a forty-year-old villager, Mohammed Raziq of Kunda top was shot dead by militants near Shahdara Sharif area of Thanamandi. Raziq’s brother was a soldier in the territorial army.
Both Rajouri and Poonch districts from the Anantnag Lok Sabha constituency which will go to polls on May 25, 2024, although no militant outfit has claimed responsibility for the attack, it is suspected that those involved appear to be well versed with the topography of the area. It is also suspected that they have been previous attacks on security forces since last year.
In an ambush on December 21, in which four Army soldiers were killed near Topa Pir on the Dehra Ki Gali Road in Poonch district, the militants have similarly taken positions on the hills and opened fire on two vehicles of security forces. In the ambush near Bhatta Durrian on April 20, 2023, the militants had taken positions on the hills of the NH-144A and targeted the Army truck.
A retired Army officer who served in Jammu and Kashmir for several years said the militants appear to be well trained and have established a strong logistical support base Without this, it is not possible for them to survive in the area which have good presence of security forces. A total of 19 soldiers were killed in four militant attacks in Rajouri and Poonch districts last year Around 30 militants were also killed during operations by security persons and police in both districts.
