Militants had planned fidayeen attack
Majid Jahangir/
Ishfaq Tantry
Tribune News Service
Baramulla, October 3
Even as the combing operation was called off today in Baramulla, where two to four militants had attacked the battalion headquarters of the 46 Rashtriya Rifles late Sunday night, the recovery of a GPS (global positioning system) set and wire cutter at the site of the attack indicate the militants had come prepared for a fidayeen (suicide) attack.
BSF constable Nitin, who was guarding the outer post, was killed while another border guard was critically wounded by the attackers before they fled from the spot. The slain constable belonged to Etawah in UP and had joined the BSF in October 2012.
“It was a civilian area and the Army couldn’t retaliate effectively, apprehending civilian casualties in the dark. This resulted in the escape of the militants,” said Senior Superintendent of Police, Baramulla, Imtiyaz Hussain. “The militants were beaten back and they were not able to breach the perimeter of the camp.”
After the firing stopped, the security forces recovered a GPS set, compass and AK magazines from the spot where attackers had attempted to sneak in. “These recoveries indicate that the militants were foreigners and had planned to sneak into the camp,” Hussain said.
Vikash Chandra, IG, BSF, Kashmir, said the timely detection of the militants by the BSF guards thwarted their entry into the base. “If the militants had managed to cut the razor wire and sneaked inside the camp, there would have been heavy casualties,” Chandra said.
On September 18, a group of four fidayeen had stormed an Army base in Uri close to the LoC which left 19 soldiers dead. This was the heaviest blow to the Army in a single militant attack since the insurgency erupted in the Valley.
Initial investigations in the Baramulla attack suggest that the militants were not fresh infiltrators, but had been active in the area for some time. The attack on the Army base in Baramulla was the first terror attack after the Army conducted surgical strikes on militant launching pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir last week.
The 46 RR Battalion is responsible for counter-insurgency operations in the garrison town of Baramulla and its headquarters are located on the banks of the Jhelum.
The town surrounded by mountains on three sides reverberated with gunshots and huge blasts around 10.23 pm on Sunday evening as most of the residents were preparing to go to bed. On Monday morning, when the Baramulla town woke up there was panic due to the nearly two-hour firing in the dead of night. Shops were shut due to the unrest and few people were seen moving in the town.
The Sunday attack was the second militant attack in the town during the current unrest. On August 17, militants ambushed an Army convoy on the Baramulla-Srinagar highway, killing two Army men and a J&K policeman. In this attack too, the attackers managed to flee.
GPS set, fence cutter recovered
A GPS set, wire cutter, and AK magazines were recovered from the spot where militants had attempted to sneak in the Baramulla Army camp.
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