Attack on Sunjwan Army camp in Jammu: 2 JCOs martyred & top 10 developments

According to news agency ANI, Indian Air Force para commandos have been airlifted to Jammu from Udhampur

Two junior commissioned officers (JCOs) were killed while a colonel-rank officer and daughter of an Armyman were among four people injured after terrorists belonging to Pakistan-backed Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) attacked the Sunjwan Indian Army camp in Jammu city in the early hours of Saturday.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri informed the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly that Subedar Maganlal and Subedar Mohammed Ashraf were killed in the attack by the group of militants.     

According to news agency ANI, Indian Air Force (IAF) para commandos have been airlifted to Jammu from Udhampur. Another aircraft is airborne to airlift para commandos from Sarsawa.

Here are the top 10 developments:  

1) Rajnath says Army doing its job effectively: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the Army and other security forces were effectively doing their job and would never let any Indian hang his head in shame. 

He said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the attack on the Army camp in Jammu as the operation was still on. "We have received information that the operation is going on. I understand that until the operation ends, it will not be appropriate on my part to comment regarding that," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of an event.

"Rest assured... our Army and security forces are effectively accomplishing their job and handling their responsibility. They will never let any Indian hang his head in shame," he said.

Earlier in the day, Singh spoke to Jammu and Kashmir DGP S P Vaid about the attack on the Army camp.  

The Ministry of Home Affairs is closely monitoring the situation, an official said. "The Director General of Police has apprised him of the situation," an official Ministry tweet added. 

2) Militants surrounded: A group of four-to-five heavily armed militants, who stormed the Army camp on Saturday and later entered the JCO quarters, have been surrounded as security forces started room-to-room intervention.

"Room-to-room intervention is now going on to pin down the terrorists inside the Junior Commissioned Officers' building that they managed to enter," informed sources in the Army said. 

3) Special forces rushed in: Soon after the attack, reinforcements of the Army's special forces and SOG rushed to the spot and cordoned off the whole area amid a fierce gunfight, security officials said. 

4) Grenades and automatic fire: A JCO was critically injured and his daughter also suffered injuries when the militants entered the Sunjuwan Military Station around 4.45 am. The militants hurled grenades and unleashed heavy volume of automatic gunfire. 

5) There was prior warning of possible attacks: There were intelligence inputs that JeM militants were planning to carry out an attack around the 5th death anniversary of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru, who was hanged on February 9, 2013, in Tihar Jail, informed sources in the police said. 

6) All schools around the camp shut: All educational institutions within half a kilometre radius of the camp have been shut down for the day.

7) J&K speaker on site: Jammu and Kashmir Speaker Kavinder Gupta visited the main gate of the Army camp as security forces carried out the anti-terror operation against the holed up militants.

8) Police have cordoned off the area: The police has cordoned off the area and a search operation was on to pin down the militants. 

9) How the attack started: IGP SD Singh Jamwal told reporters here that "around 4:55 am suspicious movement was noticed by the sentry and his bunker was fired upon. The fire was retaliated. The number of militants isn't known. They've been cornered in one of the family quarters."

Unconfirmed reports said one person has died in the gunfight.

10) Same camp was attacked in 2006: Militants had attacked the same camp in 2006. Twelve soldiers were killed and seven others were injured then before the two 'fidayeen' (suicide) terrorists were neutralised.