Poonch terror attack: Search ops enter fourth day, IAF to conduct internal inquiry

The Indian Air Force (IAF) will conduct an internal inquiry into the latest terror attack in Jammu’s Poonch district last week, which killed one of its personnel and left four others injured, senior officials told The Indian Express. The terrorists could not be traced even as the search operation entered its fourth day on Wednesday.

Officials said the investigation will look into the details of the incident and ascertain measures that can be taken to prevent such incidents in future.

On May 4, an IAF convoy was attacked by terrorists near Shahsitar in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir. According to sources, two to three terrorists opened fire from an adjacent hill as the IAF convoy, comprising eight to 10 personnel, was moving towards its location. The vehicle was close to a military post, said sources.

A joint search operation was launched immediately after the incident by the Army and the police to trace the culprits. Sources said the terrorists likely fled the spot through the thick forests immediately after they received retaliatory fire.

According to sources, intelligence inputs suggest there are 10-15 well-trained terrorists operating in the Rajouri-Poonch belt, who keep track of military convoy movements so as to be able to lay an ambush for the security forces passing by the area.

The latest attack comes within five months of a deadly terror attack on the Indian Army soldiers at Topa Pir in Poonch district, in which four soldiers were killed.

Last month, a 40-year-old villager was killed after militants opened fire on him near Shahdara Sharif area of Thanamandi. On April 28, a village defence guard, Mohd Sharief, was killed in Basantgarh area of Udhampur.

In January this year, Army Chief General Manoj Pande had said while the situation in the Valley is getting normal, the adversaries have been active in the Rajouri-Poonch belt in terms of abetting terrorism and encouraging proxy tanzeems to operate.

He had said that in the past year, seven soldiers were killed in Kashmir, while 20 were killed in ambushes in the Rajouri-Poonch sector, adding that 45 terrorists were killed in the sector in the last three years.

In 2021, a Rashtriya Rifles force moved from the area to eastern Ladakh in the backdrop of the ongoing military standoff with China. This created a temporary vacuum in the area, which is now understood to have been filled by induction of reserve troops and deployment of a few strike formations.

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