Pulwama Terror Attack: Nearly 40 CRPF personnel killed ,Many injured
PULWAMA (J&K): The scene of devastation and destruction caused by the suicide car bomb attack that killed at least 40 security personnel sent chills down the spine of unsuspecting locals who witnessed the blood bath in Pulwama district’s Awantipora area, about 20 km from here, on Thursday.
The explosive used in the attack was so strong that the blast was heard from 10-12 km away, including some parts of Srinagar adjoining the Pulwama district, locals said. The Home Ministry termed the Pulwama terror attack as a “possible suicide attack”.The bus that was hit had 39 personnel. Bullet marks on the bus indicated that more terrorists may have fired at the convoy from hiding after the explosion.
Nearly 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed and many others injured when terrorists targeted a convoy with a car bomb at Awantipora in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district today, in what is the worst attack ever on security personnel in the state. Reports suggested that the vehicle used by the terrorists was a Mahindra Scorpio carrying more than 350 kg of explosives. The injured have been moved to the army base hospital in Srinagar, 20 km from the attack site. Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This is the worst terror attack to take place in Kashmir since the start of the century. On October 1, 2001, three terrorists had rammed a Tata Sumo loaded with explosives into the main gate of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar — killing 38 people. Home Ministry sources said that terrorists triggered the car bomb while 78 vehicles with over 2,500 CRPF men were on the Srinagar-Jammu highway. The stretch on which the incident occurred had been sanitized earlier in the morning, and authorities have termed it as a “serious breach” of security.
Body parts of the terrorist, identified as Adil Ahmad, and the CRPF personnel killed in the attack were strewn on the Jammu-Srinagar Highway, where the incident happened. Some of the bodies were so badly blown up that officials feel it may take some time to identity them. This was the first suicide car bomb strike in Kashmir since the 2001 attack on the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly that left 41 persons, including three suicide attackers, dead.
More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when the suicide bomber rammed his vehicle into a bus carrying 39-44 jawans, officials said.There was nothing at the scene of the incident to suggest which type of vehicle was used to carry out the attack except the mangled heap of iron of the bus that was the target.
As soon as the explosion took place, people started running for safety. The shopkeepers at Lethpora market, which is less than 300 metres from the scene of the attack, downed their shutters and fled. The scene of the incident is not very far from the Commando Training Centre at Lethpora, which was stormed by Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorists on December 31, 2017, killing five CRPF personnel. The Jammu-Srinagar Highway has been witness to several terror attacks on the security forces. CRPF bore the brunt of an attack at Pampore, less than seven kilometres from Lethpora, in June 2016, losing eight jawans while 22 others sustained injuries.
Photographs showed charred remains of vehicles and human body parts littered across the highway, alongside blue military buses. Official sources said that the attack was carried out by one Adil Ahmad Dar alias “Waqas Commando”. ” The centre also appealed to the “international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including Jaish-e-Mohammed Chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the sacrifices will not go in vain. “The attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly,” he said. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who will visit Srinagar tomorrow to review the situation, has assured that a strong response will be given to the terror attack. “We completely understand our responsibilities… will take whatever action is necessary,” he told news agency ANI.
According to news agency report so many personnel were being transported at one go because the Srinagar-Jammu highway had been shut for the last two days due to bad weather. The convoy had left Jammu around 3:30 am. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted that the sacrifices will not go in vain. “The attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly,” he said.
This is the worst terror attack to take place in Kashmir since the start of the century. On October 1, 2001, three terrorists had rammed a Tata Sumo loaded with explosives into the main gate of the Jammu and Kashmir State Legislative Assembly complex in Srinagar — killing 38 people. The scale of this terror strike has exceeded even that of the Uri attack on September 2016, when four heavily armed terrorists targeted an army brigade headquarters — causing 19 deaths. The Indian army had responded with a cross-border surgical strike in which several terror launch pads were destroyed.
(With inputs from Agencies).
