5 Soldiers, 1 Civilian Killed; Army Guns Down 4 Militants After JeM Members Attack Sunjwan Camp In Jammu, Operation Enters Day 2

The army on Sunday successfully neutralised one more terrorist as the ongoing operation at Sunjwan Army Camp in Jammu and Kashmir entered the second day.

Earlier on Saturday, the army killed three militants of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

So far, five army personnel and one civilian lost their lives in the attack and 11 others injured, including the daughter of a jawan, who was killed.

According to police sources, most of the fallen soldiers were from Kashmir's Kupwara district. 

Parliamentary affairs minister Abdul Rehman Veeri informed the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly that Subedar Madanlal Chowdhary and Subedar Mohammed Ashraf Mir were killed in the attack by a group of militants.

The attack came a day after the death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail. This is also the second attack on the Sunjwan Military station in 15 years. In 2003, terrorists had barged into its premises and killed nearly a dozen soldiers. The death anniversary of JKLF leader Maqbool Bhat, who too was also hanged in Tihar jail, falls on Sunday and separatist Hurriyat Conference has called for a bandh on that day as well.

Following the Saturday's attack, the district administration has asked the schools within 500 meters of the camp to remain shut.

It is believed to be a fidayeen attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, the first such attack in Jammu this year, police said. The terrorists, according to the police sources, entered from the rear side of Sunjwan army camp where family quarters and many schools are located, they said.

"It's not clear how many terrorists entered the camp and how did they manage to do that," a senior police officer said.

"However, militants have been isolated", he added.

A Major has been airlifted to an Udhampur hospital where his condition was stated to be critical, Army officials said.

Army helicopters and drones have been pressed into service to ascertain the exact location of the terrorists, officials said.

While there was no action around the main entrance and vehicles were moving along the Jammu-Lakhanpur bypass in front of the camp, Army personnel in bullet-proof vehicles were engaged in the operation to rescue people from the family quarters in the rear side of the base.

A final assault against the holed-up terrorists would be launched once the rescue operation is over, officials said.

Contingents of para-military CRPF and police personnel have been posted outside the boundary wall and were keeping curious onlookers at bay to avoid civilian casualties. Generators and searchlights were brought to the camp, apparently for a night assault.

Though the exact number of militants was not known, officials said preliminary estimates suggested that there could be three to four of them inside the camp.

Inspector General of Police (Jammu) S D Singh Jamwal told reporters  that "around 4:55 am suspicious movement was noticed by the sentry and his bunker was fired upon. The fire was retaliated. The number of militants is not known. They have been cornered in one of the family quarters."

Soon after the attack, reinforcements of the Army's special forces and special operations group (SOG) rushed to the spot and cordoned off the area amid a fierce gunfight, security official said.

Schools in a five-kilometre radius around the camp have been closed by the authorities as a precautionary measure.

A high alert has been sounded in Jammu and security beefed up in and around the city.

Earlier, suicide attackers had targeted the same army station in 2006. Twelve soldiers lost their lives and seven others were injured.

(With Agency Inputs)

 The toll in a terrorist attack on Sunjwan Army camp rose to six with the deaths of three more Army personnel and a civilian even as the operation to flush out the JeM militants entered the second day today.