Srinagar: Three heavily-armed militants of Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit Wednesday struck at an Army camp in Tangdhar in Kashmir, near the Line of Control, triggering a fierce gunfight in which all the attackers and a civilian were killed and a soldier was injured.
The militants targeted the camp of 3/1 Gorkha Rifles from the rear at around 6.15 am, firing indiscriminately in which a civilian was killed and a soldier was injured.
The troops reacted swiftly, preventing the attackers from penetrating any deep into the camp even though a few vehicles caught fire after the initial assault by the militants.
The deceased civilian was working as a generator operator inside the camp.
The militants tried to sneak into the Army camp but they were effectively intercepted by the Army’s Quick Reaction Teams which hemmed the terrorists in a cordon, thus preventing their escape, the defence spokesman said.
“In an alert and swift response to a terrorist strike, the Army today killed three terrorists in Tangdhar, thus foiling an attempted suicide attack,” he said here.
An Army official said the troops surrounded the militants by 7.30 am and by 10.30 am all the three were killed.
Senior Superintendent of Police (Kupwara) Ijaz Ahmad said the three militants had entered the camp.
Three AK rifles, ammunition, Under Barrel Grenade Launchers and a number of grenades were recovered from them.
The defence spokesman said operation is in progress to fully sanitise the area.
Officials said the militants were heavily armed as they used small fire arms and UBGLs to carry out the attack.
Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror outfit reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack.
A caller identifying himself as a JeM spokesman called a Srinagar-based news agency and said the attackers had inflicted “heavy casualties” on the army.
Officials said it was not yet clear whether the attackers were a part of an infiltrating group. PTI