Srinagar: At least two terrorists have been neutralized and a soldier was martyred while one soldier was left injured when terrorists on Sunday night fired at and lobbed grenades on two military camps in Baramulla in northern Kashmir, four days after India conducted surgical strikes on terror camps across the Line of Control (LoC).
The heavily-armed terrorists attacked the two camps, belonging to the Rashtriya Rifles and the Border Security Force (BSF) late last night, leading to a fierce gunbattle with security forces.
The martyred soldier has been identified as Constable Nitin and the injured soldier is Constable Pulwinder. Both are from the 40th battalion of the BSF, officials said.
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Senior BSF officials have arrived in the area. Sunday night’s strike comes exactly a fortnight after terrorists struck at Army brigade headquarters at Uri, 102 km from here killing 19 soldiers.
The terrorists, believed to be about three to four in number, may have fled after an intense two-hour gun battle, sources said, and the entire area has been cordoned off as security forces search for them.
The Baramulla highway that to leads to Handwara has been sealed.
The terrorists gained entry into the 46 battalion of the Rashtriya Rifles through an adjoining BSF camp. The skies in Baramulla, 54km from here, saw illuminators being fired by the Army to locate the terrorists.
A spokesperson for the Srinagar-based XV corps Colonel Rajesh Kalia said terrorists targeted the Army camp at Jabanzpora in Baramulla and the firing was still on.
The attack comes even as intelligence inputs over the last four days have alerted about possible terrorist attacks on security installations in Jammu and Kashmir after the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes across the LoC in Pakistan on September 29.
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BSF DG K K Sharma briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the incident.
Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah tweeted: “Colleagues in Baramulla town are phoning with reports of massive gunfire in their vicinity. Prayers for all in the area.”
(With PTI inputs)