Kathua: Five Army Personnel Killed, Six Injured After Military Convoy Attacked

Five Army personnel were killed and six injured in a terrorist attack on a military convoy in the remote Machedi area of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district on Monday afternoon. The convoy was on routine patrol along the Machedi-Kindli-Malhar road, approximately 150 km from Kathua, when it was ambushed.

The injured soldiers were promptly shifted to a hospital for treatment. According to officials, the attack began with terrorists throwing a grenade and then opening fire. The security forces retaliated, but the terrorists managed to escape into the nearby forest. Reinforcements were rushed to the scene, and a search operation was launched to track down the assailants. Intermittent firing between the terrorists and security forces continues.

This incident marks the second attack on the Indian Army in the Jammu region within the past 48 hours. On Sunday, an Army camp in Rajouri district was attacked, resulting in one soldier being injured.

The surge in attacks has been linked to a Pakistan-based operative of the Resistance Front, a unit of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba. Identified as Saifullah Sajid Jatt, he has been marked as a “hardcore terrorist” with a ₹10 lakh bounty on his head by the NIA.

Despite the recent surge in violence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently stated in Parliament that the fight against terrorism in J&K is in its final stage. He emphasized a multi-pronged strategy to eliminate the remaining terror networks.

The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir remains tense as forces continue their operations to track down terrorists and ensure the safety of the region.