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Sunjuwan army camp attack: Defence minister visiting Jammu as search op continues
Five soldiers and a civilian were killed by suspected JeM militants who entered the army on early Saturday. The anti-terror operation has not been officially called off so far.
Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman was expected in Jammu on Monday afternoon as a sanitisation operation was on in the Sunjuwan camp that saw a prolonged gun battle between militants and the army over the weekend.
Five soldiers and the father of one of the slain men were killed in the audacious attack that started early on Saturday when heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammad militants targeted the residential area of the sprawling military campus.
“She is going to take stock of the security situation and will visit the injured soldiers and civilians at the military hospital at Satwari. She will also meet the families of martyred soldiers and injured persons,” a defence ministry source said.
Ten people, including six women and children, were injured in the strike. A 14-year-old boy is battling for life after he was shot in his head.
The visit comes in the middle of another gun battle in which a Central Reserve Police Force constable has been killed in Srinagar.
The exchange started after a guard foiled an attack on the paramilitary force’s camp in Srinagar’s Karan Nagar. The two militants, who were heavily armed, took shelter in a nearby building and opened fire during a search, a CRPF spokesperson said.
Army chief general Bipin Rawat, who reached Jammu on Saturday, to review the operation returned to Delhi the next day.
The army has killed three Jaish militants but is yet to call off the operation that saw tanks being deployed at the camp and helicopters helping the ground troops.
Sanitisation or combing exercise is a standard part of the drill to ensure that the gunfight site is secure and safe.
The army would brief the media once the operation was complete, defence spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand said.
