NewsGate Press Network

In an unfortunate incident in Jammu and Kashmir, five Army soldiers were killed by Pakistan terrorists in Rajouri district.

The ambush took place on Thursday afternoon near Dehra Ki Gali (DKG) in Rajouri.

According to Defence Ministry sources, three soldiers had died at the location while two others succumbed to their injuries later.

“An operation was being conducted in the general area Dehra ki Gali since the night of December 20,” the Army said Thursday evening.

“At approximately 3.45 pm on December 21, two Army vehicles carrying troops were moving to the operational site, which were fired upon by terrorists. Own troops immediately retaliated. In the ongoing operation, our troops sustained three fatal and three non-fatal casualties.”

Sources said two vehicles, a Gypsy and a mini-truck, were on their way from Bufliaz in Surankote to Thanamandi in Rajouri, where a Rashtriya Rifles unit is located.

Giving details, the MoD sources stated that when the army convoy reached at a place known as Topa Pir, Pakistani terrorists who appeared to have already laid an ambush attacked them, sources said.

Various media reports are indicating that this attack near Topa Pir comes more than two decades after militants killed the Rajouri District and Sessions Judge V K Phool along with his friend and two police personnel at the same location. They were on their way from Rajouri to Poonch on December 1, 2001.

The location of the latest incident is notoriously infamous stretch between Dehra Ki Gali and Bufliaz  and is a densel forest areas situated on dividing boundary between Rajouri and Poonch districts.

The Rajouri ambush reinforces the security establishment’s assessment that terror incidents away from the Valley, where militant ranks have been staring at a leadership vacuum, are high visibility strikes, intended to inflict maximum damage. Areas in the Pir Panjal range and to its south are also easier to access.