5 jawans, 2 officers dead in J&K as terrorists storm Army camp
NAGROTA: Seven soldiers, including two Majors, were killed when militants dressed as policemen stormed a military camp in Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday, triggering a fierce gun battle that raged for more than 12 hours.
A defence statement said the bodies of three militants were recovered and “operations are in progress to sanitise the complete area”.
The brazen attack was the second in as many months since the siege of another army base at Uri left 19 Indian soldiers dead, spiking tensions between India and Pakistan. In a separate gunfight, 70km from Nagrota, three infiltrators were killed and a senior BSF officer and five jawans were injured near the international border in Chamliyal area of Samba sector, officials said.
While the operation in Chamliyal was over quickly, the gun battle at Nagrota, a town on the highway between Srinagar and Jammu, continued well after sundown.
Defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Mehta said a “hostage –like situation” arose after the militants entered two buildings housing officers and families of the army unit, located about three kms from the headquarters of the 16 Corps.
“The situation was very quickly contained and thereafter, in a deliberate operation all were suc cessfully rescued, which included 12 soldiers, two ladies and two children,” the statement added.