Here's What We Know So Far About The Terror Attack In Jammu's Poonch That Killed Five Soldiers

Yesterday (20 April) at around 3pm in the afternoon, five soldiers of the Indian Army were killed after their truck caught fire while moving from Bhimber Gali to Sangiot in the Rajouri sector of Jammu and Kashmir.

The Army and Jammu and Kashmir Police (JKP) has cordoned off the entire area and halted traffic at the highway to search for the terrorists.

Here is what we know so far of the terror attack.

The five Army soldiers — Havildar Mandeep Singh, Lance Naik Debashish Baswal, Lance Naik Kulwant Singh, Sepoy Harkrishan Singh and Sepoy Sewak Singh belonging to a Rashtriya Rifle Unit in the area have died, the Army's 16 Corps based at Nagrota said.

Another seriously injured soldier has been evacuated to the hospital at Rajauri and is under treatment.

Initially it was believed that the truck caught fire due to a lightining strike, however, later in the evening the Army released a statement stating that this was a terrorist attack and the truck caught fire due to likely use of grenades by the terrorists.

Moreover, the Pakistan backed Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group's proxy outfit People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) has claimed the responsibility of the attacks and the Army with various agencies are trying to ascertain the veracity of the statement.

The Ministry of Home Affairs has, in January, banned the PAFF and declared it a terrorist organisation.

The Public Relations Officer (Defence), Jammu region yesterday has released a statement saying that "thursday, at about 1500 hours, one vehicle of Indian army, while moving from Bhimber Gali to Poonch in Rajouri sector in Jammu and Kashmir, caught fire".

“The vehicle caught fire, due to the likely use of grenades by terrorists,” the statement said, further adding that the terrorists took advantage of heavy rains and low visibility in the area.

The statement further said that the area has been sealed and wide search operation has been launched to nab the terrorist.

The Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has also been briefed by the Army Chief General Manoj Pande. The defence minister said that he "was anguished by the attack".

It is worth noting that, just yesterday Pakistan's Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto has confirmed that he will be travelling to India to take part in the Foreign Minister's meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) next month.