Jammu: One soldier was killed, and another was wounded on Monday morning when suspected terrorists attacked an army camp in Jammu, a worrying upsurge in violence as the first assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014 draw closer. The source, a police officer, said the attack took place between 10 am and 10:30 am, focusing specifically on the Sunjuwan Brigade. This is one of the most populous zones of Jammu and Srinagar National Highway and contains the biggest military station in Jammu city.
As a result of the attack, backup forces were sent to the scene immediately, and the army used drones to hunt for the attackers. Speaking to reporters, the Defence spokesperson, Lt. Col Suneel Bartwal, said operations have begun to eliminate the threat. As of the last tracks, no other casualties have been reported, except for the first soldier who was mentioned to have been injured.
Sunjuwan camp has often become a target of terrorist attacks. Since its creation in 2013, the base has been attacked several times. A notable attack was in February 2018, in which armed militants attacked the base and killed seven people, including six soldiers and one civilian. The camp was involved in another act of terror in June 2003 when two terrorists from the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba entered the camp by cutting the barbwire fence to infiltrate into the camp, destroying seven vehicles and killing 12 soldiers and nine others before being gunned down in five hours of the firing. Likewise, in May 2002, three Pakistani terrorists attacked the Kaluchak military station, which is 7 km from Sunjuwan, before attacking a bus on the Jammu-Pathankot highway. The twin blasts killed ten children, five soldiers, and seven passengers who were on the bus.
The latest attack on soldiers happened only a few days before the polls, which is the first of the three phases of assembly elections scheduled for the 18th of September. The polls are expected to witness a huge display of leadership contests with top leaders among them being Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Chief Minister of UP Yogi Adityanath.
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