Just a fortnight before the first phase of assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18, a soldier was injured when terrorists opened fire from outside the Sunjuwan army base in Jammu on Monday morning, triggering a search operation in the high-security area.
Police said the special operations group of the Jammu and Kashmir Police and the army have launched a joint operation in the area to locate and neutralize the terrorists, who fired from a “stand-off distance” outside the base.
“Some firing shots were heard outside the base near Sunjuwan military station, resulting in an army jawan sustaining injuries. A search operation is underway. Details are awaited,” said a police spokesperson.
“Terrorists seem to have carried out the stand-off attack using a sniper rifle. A few gunshots were heard in the area and nothing thereafter,” said defense sources.
Sunjuwan brigade is the largest military base in Jammu city and was targeted by Pakistan-backed terrorists on February 10, 2018, when terrorists killed six soldiers and a civilian.
On Monday’s attack, Jammu-based defense spokesperson Lt Col Suneel Bartwal said, “The fire came from a distance outside the base between 10am to 10.30am. (Search) operations have been launched.”
Additional reinforcements have been rushed to the area and the army is using drones to locate the attackers.
The Sunjuwan brigade headquarters is located on the Jammu-Kunjwani bypass that is part of the national highway to Srinagar. The army base is surrounded by densely populated localities of Bhatindi, Jalalabad, Abotabad, and Chowadhi.
High-profile leaders to address poll rallies
The incident comes even as the region is gearing up for election rallies by high-profile national leaders as it heads for assembly elections after a decade.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, defense minister Rajnath Singh, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and opposition leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi are expected to address election rallies in the region.
It may be recalled that PM Modi was to address a rally at Samba’s Palli village on April 24, 2022, when two Jaish terrorists and a CISF officer were killed and 10 others were injured in a pre-dawn attack near Sunjuwan military station on April 22. that year.
The attack site at Jalalabad in Sunjuwan was 17 km from Palli.
Targeted attacks
On June 28, 2003, two terrorists had cut through barbed wires to enter Sunjuwan base to launch one of the deadliest attacks on an Indian defense installation. Heavily armed Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists had left 12 soldiers dead and nine others injured, before they were shot dead after a five-hour gunbattle.
On May 14, 2002, Kaluchak military station, 7 km from Sunjuwan Brigade, was attacked by three terrorists from Pakistan. The trio first attacked a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus on the Jammu-Pathankot highway and killed seven passengers before storming the station, where they killed 23 people and five soldiers.
