I strongly condemn the terror attack on our Army camp in Jammu in which 6 Indians have been martyred. All Indians,… https://t.co/zC0OIWkxpx — Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) 1518330310000

(With inputs from agencies)

NEW DELHI: Five soldiers and one civilian have lost their lives in the ongoing military operation to flush out terrorists holed up near the residential quarters inside the Sunjuwan Army camp in Jammu since yesterday. Four terrorists were also gunned down by the security forces.The five martyred Army personnel and one civilian were identified as:Sub. Madan Lal Choudhary (1st Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, JAK LI), Sub. Mohd Ashraf Mir (1st JAK LI), Hav. Habib-Ullah Qurashi (1st JAK LI), NK Manzoor Ahmed (1st JAK LI), L/NK Mohd Iqbal (1st JAK LI), and father of L/NK Mohd Iqbal (civilian).Earlier today, Army Chief Bipin Rawat arrived in Jammu and met senior commanders to take stock of the situation.The Army today said that there was no firing during the night and the focus continued to be the evacuation of people from the family quarters.A group of heavily armed Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists struck the sprawling camp of the 36 brigade of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry in the early hours yesterday, triggering a gun battle which so far has left five Army personnel dead.Intel sources said the attack on Army's residential complex bears the stamp of Jaish-e-Mohammad. It coincided with the fifth anniversary of the hanging of Afzal Guru, a convict in the 2001 Parliament attack by Jaish, on Friday. Soldiers and their families were sleeping when the terrorists struck in the dark, firing indiscriminately.A high alert has been sounded in Jammu and security beefed up in and around the city.The terrorists had struck before dawn yesterday and managed to sneak into the camp from the rear side of the base after a brief exchange of fire with the sentry on its periphery."The terrorists entered the family accommodation complex after which quick response teams cordoned off the area and isolated the terrorists, who are holed up in a few houses (inside the camp)," officials said.While there was no action around the main entrance and vehicles were moving along the Jammu-Lakhanpur bypass in front of the camp, Army personnel in bullet-proof vehicles engaged in the operation to rescue people from the family quarters in the rear side of the base.Contingents of CRPF and police were posted outside the boundary wall and were keeping curious onlookers at bay to avoid civilian casualties.Condemning the attack, deputy chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Nirmal Singh, said Pakistan lacks courage to challenge India directly and is, instead, using malicious means to target civilians.Read this story in Gujarati"It's a condemnable act. This shows the cowardice of Pakistan who can't face India directly & sends its people to attack civilians here. There are family quarters around the Camp, so the Army is taking precaution in cordoning the area," he said.Congress president Rahul Gandhi, too, condemned the attack and said the entire country stands united with the security forces.Read this story in Bengali"I strongly condemn the terror attack on our Army camp in Jammu in which 6 Indians have been martyred. All Indians, across political lines, stand united with our Army men and women. My prayers and thoughts are with the families of those killed and injured," he tweeted.The latest attack on the camp took place nearly 15 months after the Jammu region was hit by a similar attack. On November 29, 2016, terrorists had stormed the Army's Nagrota camp on the outskirts of Jammu city, killing seven Army personnel including two officers. Three terrorists were also gunned down.