39 JAWANS KILLED AS JAISH BOMBER RAMS CRPF CONVOY IN J&K
Jaish suicide bomber rams a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into a CRPF bus in Pulwama; Home Minister Rajnath Singh says the strike will be avenged
At least 39 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troopers were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded, officials said. Over 2,500 CRPF jawans, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.The Pakistanbased Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar, officials said. Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018.
At least 39 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish-e-Mohammed suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district that also left many critically wounded, officials said. Some officials put the number of CRPF men dead at 42-44.
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 they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm. The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar, officials said. Police identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmed, who officials said joined the Jaish in 2018.
An official at the spot of the attack said 39-44 personnel were travelling in the bus. “There are no survivors from the bus,” he said, adding that they were yet to ascertain exactly how many people were on the bus.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who spoke with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and top officials after the attack, termed it despicable and asserted that the sacrifices of security personnel “will not go in vain”.
In a statement, the home minister said the central government is determined to foil the designs of those who want to disrupt peace through such a terror attack “sponsored and sheltered by Pakistan”. “Jaish-eMohammed has carried out this terror attack. We assure the country that we will undertake whatever it takes to avenge this," he said.
Following the attack, the Ministry of External Affairs strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including Jaish chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.
The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet at 9.15 am on Friday to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir against the backdrop of the attack, government sources said.
Experts of the anti-terror commando force National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) are being sent to Jammu and Kashmir to join the probe into the attack.
The powerful explosion, which reduced the bus to a mangled heap of iron, was heard many kilometres away, including in some parts of Srinagar adjoining Pulwama district. Body parts could be seen strewn around the area.
Officials refused to give an exact number for those injured.
"The bodies are dismembered and mutilated making it difficult for doctors to give the exact number of casualties," a senior security establishment official told PTI in Delhi.