Security personnel stand guard after a militant attack on army vehicles, in Poonch district, Saturday, May 4, 2024. A search operation is going on in the woods amid inputs about the presence of the militants. (PTI Photo)

A soldier was killed and four were injured when terrorists ambushed a convoy of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Saturday, officials said.

A heavily armed group ofmilitants on Saturday evening attacked a Stallion 4x4 and another logistic vehicle of the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The condition of the two injured security personnel is stated to be critical. They have been airlifted to the Army’s New Command Hospital in the garrison town of Udhampur.

A hospital official who spoke with this newspaper on condition of anonymity said, “Our doctors are trying their best but the condition of the jawans is such that we all keep our fingers crossed. Please, pray for them.”

Meanwhile, the Army with Jammu and Kashmir police and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has launched a massive operation at and around Shahsitar, an area in Poonch’s Surankote subdivision about 15-km from the Line of Control (LoC).

The police sources in Poonch said that it is suspected that the attack was carried out by the same group of terrorists which has been involved in a series of such and similar incidents in the twin districts of Poonch and Rajouri in the recent past including December 21, 2023 ambush on the Army vehicles at Bufliaz in which four soldiers were killed and three others injured.

A police official said that the Ashok Leyland STALLION 4X4 Mk IV, a general service logistic vehicle used by both the Indian Army and IAF to operate in tough terrains under adverse weather conditions, and another vehicle which were part of an IAF convoy came under a sneak attack at around 6.30 pm.

IAF wrote on microblogging site ‘X’, “An Indian Air Force vehicle convoy was attacked by militants in the Poonch district of J&K, near Shahsitar. Cordon and search operations are underway presently in the area by local military units. The convoy has been secured, and further investigation is under progress.”