A soldier and a civilian were injured in a predawn militant attack on an army camp and the home of a village defence guard (VDG) in Jammu’s Rajouri on Monday.

A cordon-and-search operation was launched to track down the militants, triggering a gunfight that lasted for hours, officials added.

It is the first attack since Saturday’s high-profile security review meeting led by army chief General Upendra Dwivedi in Jammu that discussed the deadly flare-up in violence in the region and devised strategies to tackle the problem of militancy.

Monday’s attacks indicate that the militants plan to keep up the offensive despite a pan-Jammu crackdown to hunt them down.

The army’s Jammu-based White Knight Corps said there was a militant attack on the house of Shaurya Chakra awardee VDG Purshottam Kumar at Gunda village in Rajouri at 3.10am.

“A nearby army column reacted and a firefight ensued,” the spokesman said
in an early morning post.

In an update in the afternoon, the spokesman said operations were underway and a gunfight was in progress.

“#IndianArmy acted on #intelligence, anticipating the threat to a Village Defence Guard in a remote area in Rajouri-Reasi. Tactical teams swiftly intervened, ensuring no harm to the #VDC member and his family,” he posted on X.

Army officials said the attack was repulsed, which helped avoid casualties. VDGs are a civilian militia fighting militants in Jammu.