5 Army personnel killed, 2 injured in J&K's Poonch

At least five Army personnel lost their lives while two others were injured in a terrorist attack on two military vehicles in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday. When soldiers were being transported to the operation location at the general area DKG (Dera ki Gali), Thanamandi, terrorists opened fire on moving vehicles. The incident happened in the Thanamandi neighbourhood about 3:45 PM.

The Army, however, had been conducting an operation in and around Dera Ki Gali, also known as DKG area, since Wednesday night.

The Indian Army said in a statement, “An operation was being conducted in the general area DKG (Dera ki Gali), Thanamandi, Rajouri, since the night of December 20. At approximately 3:45 PM on 21 December, two army vehicles carrying troops were moving to the operational site, which were fired upon by the terrorist. The fire was immediately retaliated upon by own troops. In the ongoing operation, own troops sustained three Fatal and three non-fatal casualties."

They said that the operation is ongoing and that further information is being gathered. Unsettling photos and videos that emerged from the scene included blood on the road, crushed military helmets, and smashed windscreens on the two Army trucks.

The region has become a hotbed of terrorists and a site of major attacks on the army over the past few years. The stretch between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz on the boundary of Rajouri and Poonch districts is densely forested and leads to Chamrer forest and then Bhata Dhurian forest, where five soldiers were killed in an ambush on an Army vehicle on April 20 this year.