J&K: Army detains locals in Poonch ambush case

Army has detained many locals in Dera Ki Gali area of Poonch where at least five soldiers were killed while two others were injured in an ambush by militants in the area on Thursday. Videos showed Army soldiers bundling locals into a SUV for questioning.

Poonch (Jammu and Kashmir): Army has detained some locals in connection with the killing of five Army soldiers during an ambush by the militants in Dera ki Gali area of Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, sources said. Sources said that the locals, the number of whom was not immediately known were detained by the Army for questioning in the case.

The identity of the detainees was not immediately known. It was not also clear whether any of them was officially arrested by the police. Videos of the detentions showed the Army soldiers bundling the locals including an elderly into a vehicle for questioning. At least five soldiers were killed while two others were injured after two army vehicles carrying personnel to the site of a cordon-and-search operation came under attack at a blind curve at Dhatyar Morh between Dhera Ki Gali and Bufliaz under the jurisdiction of the Surankote police station in Poonch at around 3:45 pm on Thursday.

The heavily-armed militants, believed to three to four in number, are said to have taken position on hill tops and chose a blind curve to target the army vehicles. Reports said that the militants mutilated the bodies of at least two soldiers and have taken weapons of some of them. The security officials say that investigation of site is being carried out to know the pattern and use of weapons including steel core bullets in the ambush.

Security forces have launched a massive search operation in the area to nab the fleeing militants. The General officer Commanding (GoC), XVI corps, Lt Gen Sandeep Jain visited Ground Zero and reviewed the situation with top army and police officers. Security forces are also conducting aerial monitoring of the area using helicopters even as sniffer dogs have been pressed into service.

The Dhera Ki Gali (DKG) Road has been closed for traffic. "Indian Army and White knight Corps salutes the bravery and supreme sacrifice of four soldiers in Surankote on yesterday while fighting the scourge of terrorism", White Knight Corps, or XVI corps, wrote on X over the attack.