E-Paper
Terrorists from LeT unit behind attacks on army killed in Poonch
The four slain terrorists are believed to be from a unit of 12 that has been operating in the Poonch-Rajouri forests
New Delhi: On Tuesday, around two-and-half months after they launched counter-terror operations, specifically aimed at locating the terrorists responsible for the April 20, and May 5 terror attacks in Poonch, Jammu & Kashmir in which 10 Indian Army soldiers were killed, the Indian Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police gunned down four terrorists, all Pakistani nationals and part of the proscribed Laskhar-e-Taiba (LeT) terror group, in Sindarah village in Surankote tehsil of the district, who are believed to be part of the unit that carried out those attacks.
Three AK-47 Rifles, a AK-74 rifle, two Glock pistols, five meters of Cordtex used for detonation, eight magazines of 7.62 mm, 196 rounds of AK-ammunition, three magazines of 9mm Glock and 24 rounds of pistol ammunition were recovered . The four slain terrorists are believed to be from a unit of 12 that has been operating in the Poonch-Rajouri forests near Line of Control (LoC) for the past 18 months. Belonging to the Sialkot based LeT’s Sajjid Jatt module, the group was responsible for the April 20 and May 5 terror attack in Poonch .
After the twin terror attacks on Indian Army personnel, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah directed top military brass, JK police and Indian intelligence to initiate intense counter-terror action against the foreign terrorists infesting the Poonch-Rajouri axis without any loss of life of Indian troopers. Codenamed Operation Sindarah, a sub-chapter of larger Operation Trinetra II launched by the security forces south of Pir Panjal, the counterstrike was conducted by the Indian Army’s 16 Corps, JKP’s Special Operations Group, and with actionable intelligence from the central agencies.
On Monday, Indian Army troops deployed in Surakote received accurate intelligence about terrorists near Sindarah and Maidana in Poonch district. A special team of counter-terror commandos of the Indian Army and JKP’s SOG launched operations to cordon and search the area. It was only after the cordon was established that the Indian troopers approached Sindarah village. Noticing the movement of troops, the foreign terrorists opened fire. The retaliatory firing pinned down the terrorists. Despite the terrorists seeking to take advantage of the densely forested area to break the cordon, the intermittent firing continued till 530 am on Tuesday morning. The Indian Army cordon continued to be on high alert during the entire firing that went on for nearly 24 hours. The four bodies and a significant cache of weapons and ammunition were recovered on Tuesday morning.
According to national security planners, the identity of the killed terrorists is being ascertained through forensics and DNA but they are believed to be from LeT, which has significant presence in the Sialkot sector and Shakargarh bulge area across the border. While the presence of heavily armed terrorists in the hinterland of Jammu indicates that Pakistan continues with its strategy of spreading violence in the UT, the planners added that the gunning down of the terrorists would boost the morale of the Indian Army and the JKP. The killings ended Operation Sindarah, but Operation Trinetra II, aimed at targetting the other Pakistani terrorists in the forests continues.
