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Three soldiers were killed and as many injured when heavily armed terrorists ambushed two Army vehicles in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday, officials said.
The vehicles, carrying the personnel to the site of a cordon-and-search operation, came under attack at Dhatyar Morh between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz under the jurisdiction of Surankote police station around 3.45 pm, according to officials.
A defence spokesperson said a joint search operation was launched in the general area of Dhera Ki Gali in Poonch district Wednesday night based on ‘hard intelligence’ about the presence of terrorists and an encounter ensued there.
As additional forces were moving to the site, the terrorists fired upon the vehicles — a truck and a Gypsy — killing three soldiers and seriously injuring three others, the officials said.
#WATCH | J&K: Three Army personnel lost their lives while three others were injured in a terrorist attack on two military vehicles in the Thanamandi area in the Rajouri sector. Indian Army troops also immediately retaliated after being attacked by terrorists. The troops were… pic.twitter.com/JUmV5flvdy
— ANI (@ANI) December 21, 2023
Reinforcements were rushed to the site of the ambush and a massive anti-terrorist operation was launched.
Disturbing images and videos emerging from the site showed blood on the street, broken helmets of soldiers and shattered windscreens of the two Army vehicles.
The officials said there was a possibility that terrorists had walked away with arms of the targeted soldiers.
The stretch between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz on the boundary of Rajouri and Poonch districts is densely forested and leads to Chamrer forest and then Bhata Dhurian forest, where five soldiers were killed in an ambush on an Army vehicle on April 20 this year.
In May, five more Army personnel were killed and a major-rank officer was injured in Chamrer forest during an anti-terrorist operation. A foreign terrorist was also killed in the operation.
