Baramulla Attack: Terrorists flee

Four days after India's surgical strikes across the Line of Control, a Border Security Force personnel was killed on Sunday night and another injured in what is being termed as a “shoot and scoot terror attack“ on the 46 Rashtriya Rifles camp. The terrorists, numbering between two and four, escaped, BSF IG Vikas Chandra said at the end of combing operations on Monday. Sources said the heavily armed terrorists came in a boat through the Jhelum and entered Gulnar Park which is adjacent to the 46 RR camp. They struck at the BSF bunker and tried to enter the Army camp which also houses a company of the 40th battalion of BSF.
Police said the terrorists took advantage of the darkness to escape and avoid being killed. This is somewhat unusual as fidayeen attacks usually involve terrorists committed to fighting to the end, raising suspicions that this might be a hastily organised “revenge“ strike for the cross-LoC raids.
The terrorists' attempt to breach the camp perimeter was foiled but resulted in the death of a BSF jawan, identified as 24-year-old Nitin Kumar. Another jawan was injured in the crossfire, IG Chandra said.
Baramulla SSP Imtiyaz Hussain said the terrorists used the adjoining residential area to escape after they were subjected to intense firing by the Army and BSF. The security forces, which also comprised men from J&K Police's SOG unit, recovered a mesh cutter, GPS sets and food packets from the encounter site, the BSF IG said.
A top intelligence officer said there were inputs about probable terror attacks in Baramulla and Srinagar after surgical attacks carried out by the Army across the LoC last week.
This is the second attack on the Army in Baramulla since August 17. Suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists had then ambushed an Army convoy in the town, killing two Army personnel and a policeman. An intelligence officer said around 100 terrorists have infiltrated into J&K so far this year.
The 46 Rashtriya Rifles camp is located on the banks of the Jhelum.
A stadium lies inside the fenced wall of the camp. Not only does the Army allow people to play cricket inside the stadium, it also organises cricket tournaments for local boys .
Even during the worst years of militancy and despite being so close to the old town, the Rashtriya Rifles camp was never attacked, said local resident Riyaz Ahmad. Ahmad said the Army had recently used boats to ferry its soldiers from the new town of Baramulla to avoid stone-pelting crowds positioned on three bridges connecting the old and the new towns.
On Sunday night, the Army illuminated the entire area to prevent the terrorists from breaching the camp perimeter and also to locate them after they escaped. Helicopters hovered over the area through Sunday night after the firing stopped. No one could move towards the area, locals said.