'Major terror attack' on Army post foiled in J&K's Rajouri, soldier injured; search ops launched

JAMMU: Alert Army troops on Monday successfully foiled a "major terrorist attack" in the Khawas area of Budhal, Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to sources, one soldier was injured and hospitalized, but there has been no official confirmation on the same.
This attack follows two high-level meetings chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Army Chief Gen.Upendra Dwivedi in Jammu on Saturday, where they reviewed the security situation in response to the recent surge in terror attacks in the region.
According to sources, security forces initiated a cordon and search operation (CASO) in a village in the Budhal area of Rajouri district after suspected terrorists opened fire at a security picket/post early in the morning.
"2-3 terrorists attempted to assault an Army post near the house of a VDG member Parshotam Kumar, a Village Defence Guard (VDG) member in Gundha -a remote village of Rajouri district at around 0310 hrs and the fire was promptly retaliated by security personnel," sources said.
Kumar was awarded the Shaurya Chakra for his bravery several months ago when he killed one terrorist and injured another during a previous encounter.
On July 5, President Droupadi Murmu conferred the Shaurya Chakra upon SgCt Saifullah Qadri (posthumously), DySP (now SP) Mohan Lal, SI Amit Raina, SI Feroz Ahmad, Constable Varun Singh of J&K Police, and Purshotum Kumar, a Village Defence Guard member, at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Sources added that additional reinforcements were quickly dispatched to the area, and a search operation has been initiated to locate the hiding terrorists.
This incident follows another attempted terror attack on a Territorial Army (TA) battalion post in Galuti Patrara village of Manjakote, Rajouri district, on July 7. An Army sentry deployed at the post sustained injuries during the initial exchange of gunfire, which lasted for half an hour on Sunday morning.
The attack also occurred in the early hours, around 0340 hours, when suspected terrorists fired at the sentry post of the TA base.