Army commander visits Samba, meets field commanders

Jammu, March 24 (IANS) Army's western command chief, Lt. Gen. K.J.Singh, Tuesday visited Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district where guerrillas attacked the an army camp last week and interacted with field commanders, a defence statement said.

The army commander appreciated the prompt action by the soldiers who had acted professionally in eliminating the two terrorists while they tried to enter one of the unit locations, but were successfully foiled by the alert sentry on the post.

"The army commander during his visit met troops deployed in the forward area and applauded their role in ensuring the peace and security of the area. The alertness and timely action not only foiled the terrorists' attempts in gaining entry inside the military station, but also prevented any loss of life of any citizen of our country," said the statement issued here.

Lt.Gen. Singh also felicitated three civilians who had assisted the security forces during the operation, it said.

"He took stock of the present security scenario in the region in view of the two back to back terrorists attacks.

"In this interaction with the local formation commanders and intelligence agencies he re-emphasized the need to maintain a strong vigil against inimical design of terrorists," it added.

The field armoured regiment camp which the guerrillas attacked last week comes under the command of 9 Corps that is headquartered at Yul camp (Dharmshala) in Himachal Pradesh and falls under the overall control of the western command.