Tag: Attack

At least 150 civilians may have died in attack on Burkina Faso village, says UN

[ad_1]
At least 150 civilians may have been killed and many more injured in an attack allegedly perpetrated by Burkina Faso’s security forces, the UN high commissioner for human rights has said.
In a statement on Tuesday, the commissioner, Ravina Shamdasani, called for a prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigation into what it called the “horrific killing of civilians” in the village of Karma, in northern Yatenga province.
On Monday, Burkina Faso’s prosecutor said it had opened an investigation into the killings but put the death toll at 60, less than half the number estimated by the UN and local people.
According to a statement released on Tuesday by locals from Karma, the attack last Thursday began when a large group of armed men in military fatigues entered the town on motorcycles and armoured pickup trucks.
“Some villagers, happy to see ‘our soldiers’, came out of their houses to welcome them. Unfortunately, this joy was cut short when the first shots rang out, also causing the first casualties,” said the statement from the villagers.
Jihadi fighters linked to al-Qaida and Islamic State have waged a violent insurgency in Burkina Faso for seven years. The violence has killed thousands of people and divided the country, leading to two coups last year.
Since Capt Ibrahim Traore seized power in September 2022 during the second coup, extrajudicial killings of civilians have increased, according to rights groups and residents.
This incident – one of the deadliest against civilians by security forces – comes amid mounting allegations that the military is committing abuses against those it believes to be supporting the jihadis.

Earlier this month, Burkina Faso’s government announced it was opening other investigations into allegations of human rights abuses by its security forces, after a video surfaced that appeared to show the extrajudicial killing of seven children in the country’s north.
The Associated Press this month published its own findings about the video. AP’s investigation determined that Burkina Faso’s security forces killed the children in a military base outside the town of Ouahigouya.
Days before last week’s attack, about 40 security personnel were killed near Ouahigouya. Survivors said the soldiers accused them of being jihadi accomplices, by letting them pass through their town, according to the statement from the villagers.
Since the violence, people in the community have not been able to bury their relatives as an army roadblock prevented them reaching the village, said the statement.
Conflict analysts said the alleged abuses would create a backlash against Burkina Faso’s junta and drive people into the hands of the jihadis.
“The reported human rights abuses advance the playbook of militants, it gives them talking points against the security forces and helps their recruitment efforts in the north. This is an awful recipe of consequences,” said Laith Alkhouri, the CEO of Intelonyx Intelligence Advisory, which provides intelligence analysis.
[ad_2]
#civilians #died #attack #Burkina #Faso #village
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 25, 2023
Poonch Attack: Operation Enters Day Five, Probe Zeroes In On Pakistan Based Handlers

[ad_1]
by Insha Shirazi
SRINAGAR: A massive operation to track down militants involved in a deadly attack on an army truck in Poonch district has entered its fifth day, with around 50 people, including 14 over ground workers, detained for questioning so far. The attack on Thursday killed five Army personnel, with one soldier seriously injured after their vehicle caught fire.
The operation is focused on Bhata Dhurian-Tota Gali and neighbouring areas, with Special Forces and the National Security Guard engaged in searching the dense forest areas. Drones, sniffer dogs, and metal detectors are being used to aid the search, and natural cave hideouts in the area are also being checked, as are areas where improvised explosive devices (IEDs) may have been planted.
Two groups of seven to eight militants are believed to have carried out the attack, with militants reportedly hiding in a culvert on the road stretch before attacking the vehicle. Over 50 bullet marks have been found on the vehicle, demonstrating the intensity of the firing by militants. The army truck was carrying fruits, vegetables, and other items from the Bhimber Gali camp to Sangiote village for Iftar celebration when the attack occurred.
The slain soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-militancy operations. The Bhimber Gali-Poonch road, closed for traffic following the attack, was reopened on Sunday, and experts from various agencies, including the National Security Guard and the National Investigation Agency, have visited the site to investigate the incident.
Army’s Northern Commander, Upendra Dwivedi, while speaking to The Tribune has confirmed that necessary action to apprehend the militants responsible for the attack is ongoing.
The Tribune reports that the agencies have narrowed their focus on two militant handlers based in Pakistan who are suspected of being responsible for the ambush.
As per The Tribune, The two militant handlers, Rafiq Nai (also known as Sultan) and Habibullah Malik (also known as Sajid Jutt), are believed to have played a key role in the attack. Both men were designated as militants by the Indian government last year. Habibullah’s name had previously come up in connection with a 2021 attack in the same forested area of Bhata Dhurian. During that encounter, which lasted over two weeks, nine soldiers were killed.
Habibullah, who was born in 1982 in Kasur, Pakistan, is associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and its offshoot, The Resistance Front (TRF). According to a notification by the Union Home Ministry, he has been involved in radicalizing and recruiting Kashmiri youths into militancy through his network. He is also suspected of involvement in drone-dropping of arms and communication systems in Jammu region for J&K-based militants, as well as behind the infiltration of militants through the Line of Control in Poonch, particularly Bhimber Gali. Habibullah was also responsible for a fidayeen attack on soldiers at Hyderpora, Srinagar, in June 2013, and the killing of the then SHO of Chadoora, Budgam, in December 2013.

Rafiq, on the other hand, is the “launching commander” of Tahreek-ul-Mujahideen and Jammu Kashmir Ghaznavi Force. He is involved in supervising narcotics and weapon smuggling and the infiltration of militants in the Poonch and Rajouri sectors.
Despite the fact that the militants responsible for the Poonch attack have fled the scene, the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Intelligence Bureau (IB), police, and other agencies have been working to identify those behind the attack. The Indian government has designated both Rafiq and Habibullah as militants, and their alleged involvement in the recent attack underscores the ongoing threat posed by militants operating from across the border in Pakistan.
Quoting officials on Monday, The Tribune reported that more than 40 people have been detained for questioning in connection with the Poonch militant attack. The cordon-and-search operation (CASO) has been intensified in Bhata Dhurian-Tota Gali and nearby areas with the induction of additional troops.
They added that the militants are believed to have hidden in a culvert on a stretch of the Bhimber Gali-Poonch road before attacking the truck. More than 50 bullet marks were found on the armoured vehicle. During the search operation, troops discovered natural cave hideouts that may have been used by the militants in the past. The troops are also looking for any improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that the militants may have planted in the dense forested areas.

[ad_2]
#Poonch #Attack #Operation #Enters #Day #Probe #Zeroes #Pakistan #Based #Handlers
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 25, 2023
Proud Boys leaders: Trump caused Jan. 6 attack

[ad_1]

“It was not Enrique Tarrio. They want to use Enrique Tarrio as a scapegoat for Donald Trump and those in power,” Hassan said.
Trump has loomed in the background of Tarrio’s trial, the most significant to emerge from the Jan. 6 assault on Congress. He’s charged alongside four other Proud Boys leaders — Ethan Nordean, Joe Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola — with orchestrating a violent effort to derail the transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden. The jury is expected to receive the case and begin deliberating Tuesday afternoon.
Prosecutors say the leaders, loyal to Trump and fearful of the Proud Boys’ survival in a post-Trump America, devised plans to keep Trump in office. And throughout the four-month trial, the Justice Department repeatedly emphasized how Tarrio and the Proud Boys keyed off and drew energy from Trump’s own bid to subvert the 2020 election. The group’s plan went into overdrive, prosecutors said, after Trump’s Dec. 19, 2020 tweet calling on supporters to descend on Washington on Jan. 6, 2021 to challenge the election results.
In tandem with their effort to support Trump, the Proud Boys also soured on their once close relationship with law enforcement, prosecutors say, becoming enraged at cops — particularly in Washington — after they failed to apprehend a man who stabbed four Proud Boys outside a bar on Dec. 12, 2020. That anger at police carried over into the Proud Boys’ posture toward law enforcement on Jan. 6, they say.
Hassan, though, said it was Trump pulling the strings and driving events ahead of Jan. 6 — not Tarrio. He was joined in that contention by Biggs’ lawyer Norm Pattis, who said Trump and his cadre of lawyers stoked the “stop the steal” fervor among millions of supporters.
“The leader of the free world sold this narrative, and many members of the Proud Boys believed it,” Pattis said. “People believe their president … He’s not on trial here, much though I wish he were.”
“If my president tells me my republic is being stolen, who do I listen to?” Pattis added. “The thief or the commander-in-chief? … A nation of strangers gathered together as their commander in chief sold a lie.”
Hassan noted that Trump contributed to a surge in Proud Boys recruitment after invoking the group — and urging members to “stand back and stand by” during a televised debate against Biden in September 2020. That membership boom harmed the group’s vetting and led to undisciplined members provoking unconstrained violence and street clashes in Washington in November and December 2020.

That led Tarrio to form a new Proud Boys chapter — dubbed the “Ministry of Self Defense” — to select Proud Boys who could be trusted to follow rules and obey orders. That chapter, which grew to hundreds nationwide, became the core of the group that Tarrio helped assemble in Washington on Jan. 6.
Prosecutors say the Ministry of Self Defense — or MOSD — was really a “fighting force” that Tarrio mobilized to attack the seat of government in service of keeping Trump in power. Hundreds of members joined Proud Boys leaders in Washington and were prominent parts of the crowd that breached the barricades in the first wave of the riot. In numerous cases, Proud Boys in this group were among those who helped topple barricades or tussled with police in ways that helped clear a path for the riot to advance closer to the Capitol.
But Hassan emphasized that Tarrio’s role in the entire sequence of events was tenuous. He was arrested in Washington on Jan. 4, 2021, for burning a Black Lives Matter flag after the Dec. 12, 2020 pro-Trump march. After he was released from police custody, he was ordered to leave Washington and went to a hotel in Baltimore, from where he observed the events of Jan. 6.
Prosecutors say Tarrio made public comments and social media posts that encouraged his men as they entered the Capitol, at one point saying “Don’t fucking leave,” as rioters occupied the Capitol. These comments, prosecutors say, prove the real purpose of the Proud Boys’ presence. As their handpicked members helped overwhelm police — and even after Pezzola used a stolen police riot shield to smash a Senate window and ignite the breach of the building — Tarrio and the other leaders never rebuked them or urged them to pull back.
“Make no mistake,” Tarrio told a group of national Proud Boys leaders in a private chat after the attack. “We did this.”
Hassan spent much of his closing argument urging jurors not to convict Tarrio because they disliked him. Tarrio was brash, said offensive things and often acted like an “entertainer,” Hassan said.
“Do not let your dislike for Henry Enrique Tarrio affect your judgment in that jury room,” Hassan said.
Dislike of the defendants was a theme in the Proud Boys’ closing arguments. Pezzola’s attorney, Steven Metcalf, urged jurors not to confuse their dislike for Pezzola with his potential guilt of the crimes he’s charged with.
“Even if you hate him … put that aside in judging these facts,” Metcalf said.
Metcalf agreed that Pezzola broke the law — as Pezzola largely did when he took the stand last week — but said he’s not guilty of seditious conspiracy, which he called a “fairy tale, fairy dust conspiracy created out of nowhere.”
Metcalf contended that Pezzola’s relationship with the other defendants was nearly nonexistent, even on Jan. 6. But he said prosecutors needed to link him to Tarrio and the other defendants to prove that violence, destruction and anger were part of the conspiracy.
“What did they need Dom for? You needed Dom to muddy up these guys. They needed dirt,” Metcalf said.
[ad_2]
#Proud #Boys #leaders #Trump #caused #Jan #attack
( With inputs from : www.politico.com )

April 25, 2023
Five injured in car ramming attack near Jerusalem market

[ad_1]
Jerusalem: A Palestinian man rammed a car into pedestrians near a street market in Jerusalem, injuring five people before he was shot and killed, Israeli police said in a statement.
The incident took place on Monday on a busy street next to Jerusalem’s Mahane Yehuda Market, a crowded souk in the city centre, reports Xinhua news agency.
The suspect, a 39-year-old Palestinian man from the town of Beit Safafa in Jerusalem, was “neutralised” and killed at the scene, according to the statement.

CCTV footage shows that the driver deliberately crashed his car into the crowd, and “a preliminary examination has ruled out any mechanical fault in the vehicle”, Israeli police said.
Israel’s rescue service Magen David Adom said in a statement that a 70-year-old man sustained serious wounds in the attack.
At a ceremony to mark Israel’s Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was “another attempt to murder Israeli citizens”.
“These terrorist attacks come with the expectation that they will overcome us and will uproot us from here, and if they could, they would murder us all. But they will not overcome us; we will overcome them.”
Following the attack, Israel is on heightened alert ahead of Memorial Day, which commemorates soldiers and civilians who have been killed in conflict and attacks since 1860, the BBC reported.

The occasion leads into Independence Day on Tuesday night and Wednesday. The day is celebrated with patriotic events, with this year marking Israel’s 75th anniversary.
#صور.. “من مكان عمليـ ـة الدهـ ـس بشارع يافا بالقدس والتي أسفرت عن إصابة 8 مستوطنين”. pic.twitter.com/gUF3vlC1rD
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) April 24, 2023
Monday’s attack comes amid a surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence this year.
It came hours after Israeli troops shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian man in the Aqbat Jaber refugee camp in the West Bank during an arrest raid.
Since the start of this year, more than 90 Palestinians — militants and civilians — have been killed by Israeli forces.
Eighteen Israelis, a Ukrainian and an Italian — all civilians, except for an Israeli paramilitary police officer — have been also killed in attacks by (or suspected to have been carried out by) Palestinians and, in one case, an Israeli Arab.
(Except for the headline, the story has not been edited by Siasat staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

[ad_2]
#injured #car #ramming #attack #Jerusalem #market
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 25, 2023
Man Dies Due To Heart Attack In JK

[ad_1]
SRINAGAR: A driver from Ganderbal died due to heart attack in Udhampur district of Jammu district on Monday late night.
An official said that driver identified as Adil Rashid wani son of Abdul Rashid wani resident of Kujjar Ganderbal fell unconscious at Udhampur. Wani was shifted to hospital where doctors declared him dead and apparent cause of death is said to be cardiac arrest, he said.
Meanwhile further proceedings in this regard have been started and body is being brought back to Ganderbal. (KS)

Previous articleThree Held For Assaulting Two Youth In Central Kashmir

[ad_2]
#Man #Dies #Due #Heart #Attack
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 25, 2023
‘Doesn’t know what is Hindutva’: Uddhav Thackeray makes all-out attack on BJP

[ad_1]
Jalgaon: In a strong, no-holds-barred attack, Shiv Sena-UBT President Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that ruling Bharatiya Janata Party “doesn’t know what is Hindutva”.
“Hindutva is not a matter of selfishness, but a nationalist. The BJP doesn’t understand what Hindutva is. Their Hindutva is centred around cow and gomutra (cow-urine). Cow slaughter is banned in one state but not in others… This is their Hindutva,” said Thackeray, as the BJP fights the Karnataka elections on its pet-theme.
Addressing a massive rally in Pachora, Jalgaon this evening, Thackeray denied the charge that he had left Hindutva, saying that after he took the oath as Chief Minister in November 2019, all religions were treated equally.

“I have gone with the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)… I have not left Hindutva and will never leave it… show me one instance which made you feel that I had discarded Hindutva,” he asked.
Targetting the BJP, he said that “crushing other people and parties” with the support of central investigating agencies or letting loose goons to attack women leaders of opposing political parties “is not our Hindutva”.
“People ask me – is the BJP a challenge before us? I say the BJP is not a challenge. The real challenge before us is how shall we undo the damage that the BJP is inflicting on the country,” he asserted.
He questioned “how is it possible that all corrupt people who join your party (BJP) suddenly become clean”, and said that the BJP hounds anybody opposing or daring them.
Training guns on the Shiv Sena of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Thackeray said that “seeing this massive gathering, even Pakistan would have said which is the real Shiv Sena… only the Modi-appointed Election Commission of India (ECI) could not realise it”.

“Some traitors and thieves (Shinde) believed that they are the Shiv Sena. ‘Arre hatt..!’ Look at this sea of humanity… Your throng will burn down soon… There were natural disasters and even coronavirus in Maharashtra which we tackled effectively, but now this government itself is a calamity for the state,” declared Thackeray amid loud cheers and applause.
He reiterated that the BJP must declare now whether they going to fight the next elections under Shinde’s leadership, and if not then whether the reports are true, that all 48 Lok Sabha seats will be contested by only the BJP.
“The stole the party, they took away the bow and arrow symbol and are trying to steal my father (the late Balasaheb Thackeray). Those who have nothing resort to thieving like this… First you (the voters) elected and put them on the horse, now they deserve to be yanked off their high horse,” thundered Thackeray.
He lauded former Jammu & Kashmir Governor Satya Pal Malik’s statements on corruption and the Pulwama attacks and how he was asked to keep shut in the matter by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was in the Corbett National Park at that time.
Thackeray also heaped praises on several “brave, mardana Shiv Sainiks” like Sanjay Raut, Rajan Salvi, Nitin Deshmukh and others for not succumbing to the BJP’s pressures through the Enforcement Directorate, Income Tax or Central Bureau of Investigation and chose to remain with him, and even spent time in jail.
The Sena-UBT chief threw the gauntlet at the ruling Shiv Sena saying he will be addressing more such rallies all over the state, plus joint public meetings of the MVA.
“You can come with Modi and your stolen bow and arrow. I will confront you with my name… Hold the elections now… we are ready to fight and burn your throne with our flaming torch,” warned Thackeray.
The mammoth rally which got underway around dusk was addressed by other leaders like Leader of Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve, MP Arvind Sawant, Deputy Leader Sushma Andhare, Vaishali Patil and others.
[ad_2]
#Doesnt #Hindutva #Uddhav #Thackeray #allout #attack #BJP
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
Farooq Abdullah’s remarks on Poonch terror attack unacceptable: BJP

[ad_1]
Jammu: A day after National Conference (NC) president Farooq Abdullah asked security agencies not to harass innocents during their operation against the perpetrators of a recent terror attack in Poonch, the BJP on Sunday said the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister’s remarks are unacceptable as those could hamper the probe.
The saffron party also said people should also understand the “ill motives” of the NC leadership, which is trying to create a wedge between communities by misusing such critical situations.
“Abdullah accused investigation agencies of harassing common people in the name of the Poonch terror attack probe. He should not mislead people and rather ask them to join the probe to punish the culprits as soon as possible,” senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Kavinder Gupta said here.

Five Army personnel were killed and one was seriously injured after their vehicle was attacked by terrorists in Poonch on Thursday. The soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations.
“They (security agencies) have started operations in Pooch. They should not arrest innocent people. It was their mistake, they should not harass innocent people. It is wrong and it should be avoided,” Abdullah said on Saturday.
On Friday, the NC president had said the top security officials in Jammu and Kashmir should look into the lapses that led to the killing of the soldiers.
“The area (where the attack took place) is closer to the border. There must be a security issue which they need to check. There has been a mistake somewhere, they should look into it,” he had said.
Gupta said the NC leadership should ponder for a while that central agencies are probing the case of a terror attack in which five Army bravehearts have given the supreme sacrifice.

“The unfounded statements given by Abdullah in context of the Poonch attack are unacceptable as these could hamper the investigation and have the potential to alienate people from the mainstream,” he said.
The former Jammu and Kashmir deputy chief minister also said people should understand the “ill motives” of the NC leadership, which is trying to create a wedge between communities by misusing such critical situations.
“Those who have any knowledge about the terror strike in Poonch should come forward and become part of the probe as five countrymen have lost their precious lives while performing their duties,” he said.
[ad_2]
#Farooq #Abdullahs #remarks #Poonch #terror #attack #unacceptable #BJP
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
KTR’s sarcastic retort to Amit Shah’s ‘countdown’ attack on BRS

[ad_1]
Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) working president and state IT minister KT Rama Rao on Sunday challenged Union Minister Home Minister Amit Shah to name one Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led-state government that has fared better than Telangana in the last 9 years.
Amit Shah on Sunday addressed a public meeting titled “Vijay Sankalp Sabha” at Chevella town in Rangareddy district. Shah asked people to “dismiss” the BRS government in the upcoming assembly election that is to be held later in the year.
Taking to Twitter KTR thanked Shah for laying the foundation for various infrastructure development projects and educational institutions and sarcastically remarked that it actually did not happen.

“I thank Amit Shah Ji on laying the foundation for ITIR Hyderabad, National Project status for Palamuru – RR lift irrigation project, Hyderabad Metro Phase 2, IIM, IISER, IIIT, IIT, NID, Navodayas, Medical & Nursing Colleges. Oh Wait he did none of that,” said KTR in the tweet.
I thank HM @AmitShah Ji on laying the foundation for
☑️ ITIR Hyderabad
☑️ National Project status for Palamuru – RR lift irrigation project
☑️ Hyderabad Metro Phase 2
☑️ IIM, IISER, IIIT, IIT, NID, Navodayas, Medical & Nursing Colleges
Oh Wait 😁 he did none of that.
Amit…
— KTR (@KTRBRS) April 23, 2023
“It is countdown time for the BRS party because we (BJP) are confident of winning the elections. When we come to power, we will end the corrupt rule of KCR and his family. No one will be spared,” said Amit Shah at the public meeting.
In a seemingly indirect warning message, Shah told KCR to work for the development of the state rather than wasting time pointing guns at Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He charged that policing and administration in Telangana have been completely politicised and welfare measures which are being extended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are not percolating down to the grassroots.
Dear @AmitShah Ji,
త్వరలో అధికారంలోకి కాదు..
బీజేపీ అంధకారంలోకే…
త్వరలో
రాష్ట్రంలో బీజేపీ ఖాళీ…
ఢిల్లీలో.. ప్రధాని కుర్చీ ఖాళీ..
2024లో..
వైఫల్యాల మోదీకి
గుజరాత్ ఘర్ వాపసీ తప్పదు
మరోసారి
మోదీని ప్రధాని పీఠం ఎక్కిస్తే..
దేశాన్ని బలిపీఠం ఎక్కించినట్టే
అనే బలమైన…
— KTR (@KTRBRS) April 23, 2023
Subscribe us on

[ad_2]
#KTRs #sarcastic #retort #Amit #Shahs #countdown #attack #BRS
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
Poonch attack: Steel bullets capable of piercing armoured shields used

[ad_1]
Poonch/: The terrorists who ambushed an Army truck in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch used steel core bullets, capable of piercing an armored shield, and decamped with the soldiers’ weapons, officials said on Sunday, amid intensified efforts to trace and neutralise the perpetrators.
They said a sniper is believed to have targeted the truck from the front before the other terrorists sprayed bullets and lobbed grenades on it.
Five soldiers were killed and one injured after the terrorists attacked the lone Army truck, which was carrying eatables for iftar to a nearby village, in the dense forest area of Bhata Dhurian late on Thursday afternoon and the vehicle caught fire.

The soldiers were from a Rashtriya Rifles unit deployed for counter-terror operations.
Experts from various agencies, including the National Security Guard (NSG) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA), have visited the site of the attack over the past two days and have managed to get a clear picture of the deadly ambush which was laid by the terrorists, the officials said.
They said a sniper is believed to have targeted the vehicle from the front before his associates showered bullets and lobbed grenades on the vehicle from opposite sides, apparently giving the troops no time to retaliate.
The terrorists used steel core bullets that can penetrate an armoured shield, they said.
Before fleeing, the terrorists stole the soldiers’ arms and ammunition, they added.

Though the area where the attack took place is considered terrorism-free for long, the Bhata Dhurian forest area remains a notorious infiltration route for terrorists attempting to sneak into India by crossing the Line of Control (LoC) due to its topography, dense forest cover and natural caves.
In October 2021, nine soldiers were killed in two major gunfights with terrorists within four days in the forest area during a search operation that continued for over three weeks.
Thursday’s ambush was also a grim reminder of a terrorist attack on the official vehicle of a judicial magistrate over two decades ago. District and Sessions Judge V K Phool, a civilian and two police personnel were killed in the attack which took place on December 5, 2001, in the Dehra Ki Gali forests near the Bhata Dhurian forests.
The officials said over 12 people have been detained for questioning in connection with the Poonch attack but no arrests have been made so far.
Security forces are using drones and sniffer dogs to conduct a recce of the dense forest but success has eluded them so far, they said.
It is believed that the terrorists have managed to create safe hideouts in the dense forest to escape the security dragnet or may have crossed over to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, they added.
According to the officials, initial reports suggest the involvement of around five terrorists, including some foreign mercenaries, in the attack.
After the ambush, the terrorists possibly used grenades as well as sticky bombs that caused the vehicle to erupt into flames.
The officials said those who executed the attack are believed to have been in Rajouri and Poonch for more than a year and had adequate knowledge of the terrain, which is quite tough.
The area is a hotbed of Jammu and Kashmir Gaznavi Force (JKGF) as its ‘commander’ Rafiq Ahmed alias Rafiq Nayi is a resident of the area, they added.
At present, three to four terrorist groups are active in the region of Rajouri and Poonch, sources said.
Banned terror group People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a proxy wing of Jaish-e-Mohammed, has claimed responsibility for the attack. There are reports suggesting that it was the handiwork of banned Lashker-e-Taiba group also.
[ad_2]
#Poonch #attack #Steel #bullets #capable #piercing #armoured #shields
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

April 23, 2023
Poonch Attack: Traffic On NHW Restored After Three Days

[ad_1]
SRINAGAR: The vehicular movement on Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch highway between Bhata Dhurian and Jarran Wali Gali in Poonch district has been restored on Sunday morning after remaining closed for three days.
Traffic on highway was closed on Thursday late afternoon after militants attacked an army vehicle near Tota Gali in which five army personnel lost their lives while one is injured.
The highway was lying closed from last three days between BG and Jarran Wali Gali with traffic was diverted through Mendhar.
On Sunday morning, officials said the highway has been restored and vehicular movement has been allowed. (KNO)

[ad_2]
#Poonch #Attack #Traffic #NHW #Restored #Days
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 23, 2023