Seven soldiers, including two officers, were killed and six others wounded as heavily-armed terrorists stormed an Army camp in Jammu’s Nagrota before dawn on Tuesday, triggering a fierce gunbattle that raged through the day. At least three terrorists were killed, and sounds of gunfire and occasional blasts could be heard from a distance. This is the most audacious attack in J&K after terrorists killed 19 soldiers in Kashmir’s Uri in September. The terrorists disguised as policemen attacked the Army’s 166 Field Regiment on Jammu’s outskirts at 5.30 am, throwing grenades and firing at sentries.
They first forced their entry into the Officers’ Mess complex and then occupied two buildings leading to a “hostage-like situation”. Even as the gunfight continued, 12 soldiers, two women and two children were rescued. The Army immediately cordoned off the area and all schools in the area were shut. The attack came as Pakistan’s new army chief Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa took charge, and his predecessor Raheel Sharif warned India not to mistake his country’s “restraint” for weakness.
Meanwhile, it emerged on Wednesday that three heavily-armed terrorists killed by BSF in Samba district had infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir to carry out a chain of terror attacks by blowing up running trains and tracks with chained IEDs and five bottles of liquid explosive trinitroglycerin, a top force official said. “Their design was to blow up rail tracks and trains here. We have recovered chained IEDs and liquid explosives,” Additional Director General (ADG) BSF and Special DG (Western Command) Arun Kumar said at a press conference in Jammu.
