SRINAGAR: Two suspected terrorists from Pakistan have been holed up within the larger reaches of the snow-clad Apharwat mountain vary in J&Ok’s Gulmarg since early Aug, biding their time earlier than laying final Thursday’s ambush on a navy truck 5km from the LoC during which two troopers and as many porters have been killed, safety officers stated quoting intelligence experiences.
Botapathri, the place the terrorists struck, is a picture-perfect meadow ringed by towering mountains and dense forests the place Himalayan brown bears and snow leopards are identified to roam. The realm has two safety checkpoints, neither of which purportedly bought a whiff of a terrorist intrusion till the ambush on a two-vehicle 18 Rashtriya Rifles convoy carrying provides.
Police sources stated the 2 assailants focused the primary car by hurling grenades, which gave them the duvet to fireplace on the personnel and the porters inside from automated weapons.
Preliminary experiences urged that the attackers used rockets to focus on the provisions-laden truck headed for the final Indian Military picket on the LoC. The harm triggered to the car was later discovered to be from gunshots and grenades.
Primarily based on inputs from numerous businesses, the terrorists are regarded as from the Pakistan-headquartered Jaish-e-Mohammad. They infiltrated the area over eight weeks earlier than the ambush and should have escaped to a different a part of the valley after the lethal ambush.
A navy spokesperson stated retaliation by the RR contingent pressured the terrorists to depart behind an unspecified weapon and a rucksack earlier than escaping into the dense foliage in fading gentle. Safety forces proceed to scour areas like Baba Rishi within the Gulmarg mountains for the 2 terrorists behind final week’s ambush.
The spokesperson stated Pakistani intruders have been intimidating Kashmiri villagers into retaining quiet whereas planning strikes to renew their “reign of terror”, geared toward disrupting the government’s effort to carry peace and stability after J&Ok’s first meeting election in a decade.
Gujjars and Bakerwals, who graze their sheep within the valley throughout the summer season months, reside within the dhokas (mud huts) on the higher reaches of Gulmarg.
Apharwat Peak, which is at 14,403ft, is a vacationer favorite that may be considered by taking a gondola experience from Gulmarg.
