J&K Police on Saturday said that three to four militants were involved in the deadly ambush on an Army vehicle in the Bota Pathri area of Baramulla district which resulted in the death of two soldiers and two civilian porters.
The combing operations continued on Saturday in the forests of Gulmarg, Bota Pathri and neighbouring areas to trace the attackers involved in the attack. The forces are using drones and helicopters to scan the vast forest area.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla Mohammad Zaid said the search operation is continuing in the area.
“The searches by the joint teams of Police, Army and paramilitary were put on halt during the night and it resumed at the first light of the day. The searches are being conducted in a vast area of Gulmarg and Baba Reshi forest,” Zaid told reporters in Baramulla on the sidelines of a function.
He said that all necessary precautions have also been taken in the built-up areas.
The SSP said that evidence so far from the site of the attack suggest that three to four militants were involved in the attack.
The People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), which security agencies believe is an offshoot of Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammed, purportedly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement circulating on social media.
On Friday, the Army said that the attackers were “Pakistani terrorists” and the ambush was aimed at disrupting the ongoing progress towards peace in Kashmir.
On Thursday evening, militants targeted a convoy belonging to the Army’s 18 Rashtriya Rifles which was en route to Gulmarg in the Bota Pathri area near the Line of Control. Two soldiers identified as Rifleman Kaisar Ahmad Shah from Anantnag district and Rifleman Jeevan Singh from Sirsa district of Haryana and two civilian porters from north Kashmir were killed in the attack.
