Militants Planning Another Pulwama-Like 'Fidayeen Attack' on Security Forces in J-K, Warns Intel

Rajouri: After back-to-back terror attacks on civilians and armed forces in Jammu and Kashmir, the intelligence agencies have issued a ‘48-hour’ warning for another Pulwama-like ‘Fidayeen Attack’ on security camps located in hotspots of Jammu and Kashmir.  

A tight security watch is being maintained after an attack threat was issued in the Sunderbani and Nowshera areas of the Rajouri district and the Akhnoor and Domana areas of the Jammu division, claimed sources. Several areas have been cordoned off, it added. 

It comes after Jammu and Kashmir witnessed three terror attacks within three days, the most fatal being the Reasi incident where 10 Hindu pilgrims were killed and 35 others were wounded after militants opened fire at the bus carrying passengers from Shiv Khora temple. 

Reasi, Kathua, Then Doda: Terror Attacks In J-K  

Two terrorists engaged in a gunfight with security forces in Kathua district on Tuesday night in which one of them was killed and a civilian was injured. A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan was killed in action. 

The security forces deployed drones and conducted intensive search and combing operations in Kathua's Hiranagar on Wednesday. The latest reports claimed that both the terrorists behind the Kathua attack have been neutralised. 

Responding to the anti-terror operation in Kathua, ADGP Jammu Anand Jain said, "Two terrorists have been neutralised; search operation underway in the area. This is a newly infiltrated group which has come to this area. There is a possibility of more terrorists also."

In Jammu and Kashmir's Doda, five security personnel and an SPO were injured during an encounter with armed terrorists, following an attack on a joint checkpost, the police said.

The terror attack on a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims to the Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi triggered nationwide outrage with people seeking action against terrorism. As many as nine people were injured and 35 others were wounded after militants opened fire at a bus carrying them.

Two days after the attack, the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday released a sketch of a terrorist involved in the ambush and announced a Rs 20 lakh reward for information about him.

Fidayeen Attack: The Pulwama Story

The 2019 Pulwama attack unfolded on February 14, 2019, when a convoy of army vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a vehicle-borne suicide bomber at Lethapora in the Pulwama district. 

As many as 40 CRPF personnel were killed along with the perpetrator--identified as Adil Ahmad Dar-- a local Kashmiri youth trained by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed. 

The so-called ‘fidayeen attack’ used to be accompanied by stand-off firing of weapons. But now they employ stealth with cunning, looking for their target when it is least alert and most lazy before storming it. They dress in uniform, and normally come by public transport or in a private car close to their target.