The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: The death toll from an attack on a military vehicle in Jammu’s Kathua district has risen to five with another soldier succumbing to his injuries, officials said on Tuesday, July 9.
The attack, which was termed by the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi as a “blow to the country’s security”, took place in a remote Machhedi village of Kathua district.
According to reports, a group of heavily-armed militants first stopped the movement of troops by hurling a grenade at a military truck driving along the Machhedi-Kindli-Malhar road on Monday afternoon.
The village shares a border with the district of Doda in Jammu’s Chenab valley where security forces claimed to have gunned down three militants last month.
As the unscathed troops took up position, the militants opened gunfire at them from several directions using automatic rifles.
At least a dozen soldiers were injured in the attack, out of which five have succumbed to their injuries, officials said, while at least five more are undergoing treatment at a military hospital.
No militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, the second such incident in two days against the army in Jammu division, which has become a new theatre of violence related to the conflict in Jammu and Kashmir, particularly in the years after the reading down of Article 370.
Reports said that a junior commissioned officer was among those killed in the attack. However, there has been no official statement from the army or J&K police about the deaths so far.
The army’s northern commander Lt Gen M V Suchindra Kumar was in Srinagar to review security preparedness for the ongoing Amarnath Yatra when the attack took place, according to an official post on X.
In a statement, J&K police said there was an exchange of fire between security forces and militants in Machhedi in which two Army personnel were injured.
Following the attack, additional reinforcements were rushed to the area and a massive cordon and search operation was launched to hunt down the suspects, “After attacking the army truck, terrorists fled into the nearby forest. Additional reinforcements have been rushed to the area and a search operation has been launched to track down the attackers,” the police statement said.
The police said that intermittent exchange of firing was going on in the area. A video clip purportedly from the site of the encounter showed the army chopper flying over a densely forested area where the militants are believed to have escaped after the attack.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh said that he was “deeply anguished” at the loss of five soldiers in the attack.
“My deepest condolences to the bereaved families, the nation stands firm with them in this difficult time. The counter terrorist operations are underway, and our soldiers are determined to usher in peace and order in the region. I pray for a speedy recovery to those who sustained injuries in this dastardly terror attack,” Singh said in a post on X.
Rahul Gandhi posted on X: “These cowardly attacks on our army are highly condemnable. The fifth terrorist attack within a month is a grave blow to the security of the country and the lives of our soldiers. The solution to the relentless terror attacks will come from strong action, not from hollow speeches and false promises. We stand firmly with the country in this hour of grief.”
J&K’s former chief minister Omar Abdullah also condemned the attack: “Terrible news from Kathua. It’s a very bad day when you lose four brave army personnel in the line of duty. I condemn the attack unequivocally and send my heartfelt condolences to the families. I hope the injured make a swift & complete recovery,” he said in a post on X.
On Sunday, the attack took place a day after a soldier was injured when suspected militants attacked an Army camp in Manjakote area of Rajouri district. However, a vigilant sentry at the gate of the camp retaliated the fire, forcing the militants to flee from the area, according to security forces. The sentry however suffered injuries in the attack but his condition is believed to be stable.
Six suspected militants were gunned down and two army soldiers laid down their lives in two gun-battles in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Sunday. The killings took place at a time when the Amarnath yatra was underway in the Kashmir valley with the director general of J&K Police R R Swain terming the operations in Kulgam as a “big milestone” for the security forces.
Note: This report is being updated as new developments take place.