JAMMU: A terrorist was killed early Monday in retaliatory action after he and two associates fired at a military ambulance that was part of an Army convoy moving through Battal Keri-Jogwan near the LoC in Sunderbani sector of Akhnoor, 28km from Jammu city.
An official said no soldiers were wounded in the counteroffensive. “The area was brought under a cordon and reinforcements sent. A search was launched to track down the fleeing terrorists.”
Later at night, the Army’s White Knight Corps announced that military assault dog Phantom died of bullet wounds during the gunfight. A Belgium Malinois born on May 25, 2020, Phantom was enlisted in Aug 2022.
Earlier, six-year-old Kent was fatally shot while leading a column of soldiers and shielding her handler during an anti-terrorism operation in the jungles of Rajouri district on September 13, 2023.
J&K police dismissed reports that three terrorists were killed. “We urge the public to remain calm and refrain from spreading unverified information,” an officer said, while revealing that arms and ammunition were found on the slain terrorist.
According to a security source, three terrorists entered a Shiv temple in Assan village and were searching for a mobile phone to make a call when they noticed the military ambulance passing by. “A dozen bullets are believed to have hit the ambulance,” the source said.
Residents recounted how the terrorists had confronted a group of children near the temple before the attack. “The terrorists asked them if they have a mobile phone. When the children said no, they searched their bags. Not finding any phone, they asked the kids to run,” a resident said.
This marked the first attack in the Jammu region following the death of 12 people in a series of violence in Kashmir since mid-October. On October 14, terrorists ambushed a military truck near Gulmarg in Baramulla, killing two soldiers and two porters. On October 18, a migrant worker from Bihar was murdered in Shopian district, while seven employees of a tunnel-construction company were shot dead in Ganderbal district on October 20.
Akhnoor has seen several terrorist attacks in the past, including the storming of an Army camp on Tanda road in January 2003 by a three-member fidayeen squad that resulted in the death of a Brigadier and seven Special Forces men when top military officers had gathered there for an event.
A dozen were wounded, including then GoC-in-C Northern Command Lt Gen Hari Prasad, Jammu-based 16 Corps Commander Lt Gen TPS Brar, GoC of 10 Infantry Division Maj Gen TK Sapru, along with a Brigadier and two Colonels.