Nagrota attack was the latest attack on an Army camp. An eye-opening news in this regard unfolded that the terrorists used a silencer-fitted weapon to kill a sentry before gaining entry into the army premises.
During this attack, three attackers had infiltrated into India from across the international border at Hiranagar in Kathua district of Jammu region.
This tactic was adopted by the attackers for the FIRST TIME in the troubled state to sneak into the camp from the rear side which had thick vegetation.
After entering, one of the terrorists fired at the sentry using a silencer-fitted weapon, official sources said.
As someone noticed the fall of the sentry, panic gripped the Army camp, which houses an artillery unit having the presence of families of soldiers. Soon firing erupted.
The sources said night illuminators were fired to locate the terrorists who had by then entered an adjacent two-storey building where families of soldiers were staying.
Anticipating a hostage-like situation, the Army troops with the help of para-commandos rescued the women and children first before launching a final onslaught on the terrorists.
Drones were pressed into the service which helped the snipers eliminate the terrorists inside the camp.
Seven Army personnel, including two officers, were killed in the attack by the three terrorists, who were also eliminated in the counteroffensive which lasted nearly four hours.
The security agencies had recovered an iCom wireless set near a tree in Hirnagar that matched the frequency of the sets carried by the militants.
Not ruling out the possibility of local assistance being provided to the terrorists, sources said they had possibly entered into India on the night of November 28-29 and travelled a distance of 78 km to the Army camp using a well-connected national highway before mounting the assault in the morning.
Initially, it was speculated that the terrorists could have travelled to the Army camp from Kashmir, a possibility that was rejected after the vehicular movement was scrutinised from the CCTVs installed at vantage points along the national highway linking the Valley to the rest of the country.
There were some intelligence leads suggesting that a militant sympathiser from Poonch had ferried the terrorists to the Army camp.
BSF officials had initially rejected suggestions that terrorists entered through the international border but after the recovery of the wireless set, they started their internal probe. The case is now being probed by National Investigation Agency (NIA)
This is an unabridged format of the news from Press Trust of India
