2 BSF men killed in J&K militant attack

Two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and four injured when militants opened fired at their vehicle just outside the Awantipora air force base in Pulwama district on Saturday afternoon. The incident occurred near the base in the Quil area at 1pm.

Two Border Security Force (BSF) personnel were killed and four injured when militants opened fired at their vehicle just outside the Awantipora air force base in Pulwama district on Saturday afternoon.

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The incident occurred near the base in the Quil area at 1pm. “Six personnel sustained critical injuries and were rushed to a hospital where two of them succumbed. The four injured personnel were taken to the army’s 92 base hospital in Srinagar,” a police spokesman said.

He, however, denied that the air base could have been the target. “The vehicle on the road was attacked,” he added. The BSF provides external security to the base. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search to nab the attackers.

A BSF spokesman said the militants fired on the Maruti Gypsy of 165 Battalion when the personnel were on routine patrol duty. ASI Rudal Singh and head constable Subedar Singh Yadav were killed, while constable, Paravjit, head constable Vijay Thapliyal, constable Amar Bahadur and constable Vinod Singh, who was driving the Gypsy, received bullet injuries.

“The incident was a chance engagement by militants. They were probably on a lookout to inflict casualties on security forces to make their presence felt as they have suffered a large number of casualties in the past few months. This action was probably the outcome of their desperation,”’ the spokesman added.