Srinagar, March 21: Suspected militants struck for the second time in Jammu in two days, attacking an army camp with automatic rifles and grenades but they were neutralised before they could storm it.
A two-member death squad had stormed the Rajbagh police station in Jammu's Kathua district yesterday, killing five persons in a five-hour gunfight. Both militants were killed.
This morning, two suspected militants attacked the 81 Armoured Regiment in Samba district, around 20km from the site of yesterday's attack. The camp is located on the Jammu-Pathankot highway, which was closed to traffic for hours after the incident.
Army sources said the militants opened fire and lobbed grenades towards the camp sentry around 5.45am. The fire was returned and militants could not breach the gate.
Lt Col Manish Mehta, a defence spokesperson in Jammu, said the militants were later holed up in a civilian building outside the cantonment from where they kept firing intermittently.
"With the immediate mobilisation of army quick reaction teams, the militants were effectively cordoned off and localised in a very restricted area, and were not permitted to enter the unit compounds. Army special force elements, closed in with terrorists, who were eliminated in the surgical operation," he said.
The army said no civilian or security force personnel was injured in the gunfight, although a pilgrim headed to the Vaishno Devi got injured after he fell off his cycle.
The army has recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from the slain militants, including two AK 47 rifles and grenades, in addition to a floating water bag, two tiffin boxes and torches.
It is suspected that the duo involved in today's attack crossed the International Border along with the Rajbagh attack militants. But an army officer said it was too early to reach such a conclusion.
"It appears the militants infiltrated from an unfenced section of the IB," he said.
Most of the IB and the Line of Control are fenced but there are several stretches that have been left open because of rivers and rivulets.
The attacks have taken on political overtones with some parties criticising chief minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for his controversial remark crediting militants and Pakistan for facilitating peaceful polls in the state.
Panthers Party patron Bhim Singh has written to the President, seeking imposition of governor's rule in the state in the interests of security.
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