Poonch Ambush: Terrorist Used Chinese Armour-Piercing Bullets, Did Prior Recon Of The Area

The Pakistan-based terrorist who last week ambushed and killed five Indian Army soldiers close to the Poonch district in Jammu and Kashmir used Chinese-made steel-core armour-piercing bullets.

According to a report by the Indian Express, the armour-piercing '7.62 mm' bullets had a marking that read '71', which the report says is believed to have been made in a ammunition factory inside China.

Moreover, the terrorists had pre-planned the ambush. They have done prior recce of the area and according to a report probably had a spotter with them as well, who passed on information of the approaching truck, to the terrorist hiding in the forests.

Another report by the Economic Times says that, the terrorists first shot the front of the truck using a sniper rifle and subsequently surrounded the truck from both sides and mercilessly fired on the soldiers in the truck.

The Army truck was travelling between Bhimber Gali and Poonch in the Rajouri sector of Jammu, when it came under automatic fire from the terrorist. The truck was engulfed in fire and five soldiers died while one soldier is critically injured.

The  People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF), a proxy group linked with the Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). There are also reports that the Lashkar-i-Taiyba, another terror group sponsored by Pakistan is also said to be the part of the attack.

According to the IE report, the search operation will be continue for at least 72 hours, after which the operation will be based on intelligence inputs.

"The probability of contact is maximum in the first 24-36 hours after that, they usually hide their weapons and split up in attempts to make it difficult to trace them,” said the report quoting an official source.

Meanwhile, the Army and Jammu and Kashmir police has launched a major search operation in the area to nab the terrorists. It is worth noting that the area is surrounded by dense forests on both sides and it is very easy to hide in the various natural caves in these forests.

The Army is using drones and sniffer dogs to track the terrorists. The Northern Army Commander, Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, on the other hand, visited the Command hospital in Udhampur and talked with the survivor.

The Army's Northern Command tweeted "Dwivedi interacted with the survivor... and assured that necessary action is underway".