Alert troops of the Indian Army foiled a repeat of the 2016 Uri attack, gunning down two heavily-armed terrorists, as they attempted to storm a well-fortified Army post at Pargal in Darhal area of Rajouri in the early hours of Thursday. At least three soldiers of the Indian Army were killed while repulsing the terror attack during a three-hour-long gunfight.
Three soldiers, including one senior Army officer, who received grievous injuries during the exchange of fire, were undergoing treatment, but one of them, Rifleman Nishant Malik succumbed later, taking the Army’s toll to four.
The slain militants are suspected to be the members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) fidayeen squad.
The two-member suicide squad, sporting combat dresses, lobbed grenades and opened indiscriminate firing in a bid to storm the Army camp around 3.00 A.M. The terrorists wanted to recreate the Uri garrison attack of 2016 and inflict maximum fatalities. However, the alert sentries foiled the terror attack while suffering collateral damage.
The Pargal Army post, located 25 kms away from the Line of Control, acted as an active base of an Army unit deployed in the forward area. The post accommodated a large number of soldiers in the remote area and was well- guarded by several sentry positions and barbed wire fencing.
This is the first major terror strike on an Army installation in Jammu region since October 2021.
A total number of nine soldiers including two JCO’s were martyred in the thickly-forested area of Dera Ki Gali and Nar Khas in the Mendhar tehsil of Poonch between October 11-October 16. Another fidayeen attack was foiled in the Sunjwan area of Jammu ahead of the visit of Prime Minister on April 22. Preliminary reports suggested that the attack was carried out by a well-entrenched module of the terror outfit as a few locals had spotted suspicious movement of non-locals in the area two days ago. Following a general alert, ahead of the Independence Day celebrations, the cordon and search operations were launched to maintain a high degree of alertness. According to a Jammu based Defence PRO Lt-Col Devender Anand, “In the early hours on Thursday, alert sentries of the Indian Army post at Pargal, in Rajouri district detected suspicious persons approaching their post taking advantage of the inclement weather and dense foliage”
He said the sentries challenged the two terrorists who lobbed grenades while attempting to gain entry inside the post.