Car-Bomb Attack In High Security Zone

Major among 3 soldiers, Civilian killed; 20 injured

SRINAGAR - Militants attacked passing army vehicles in the high security Ram

Munshi Bagh area with a powerful car bomb this morning, leaving a civilian and three security men, including an army major, dead.

Twenty others, including five women and four security personnel were injured in the blast.

The attack took place at around 9: 10 am near the Sher-eKashmir cricket stadium close to the Burn Hall School when an explosive-laden Maruti car blew up just as army vehicles were passing by.

The residences of several ministers, politicians and senior bureaucrats are located in the area, and it remains .under round-the-clock vigil of the police and the security forces. Eyewitnesses, quoted by the CNS, said they saw the driver of the Maruti car leap out and disappear through a' lane after slowing the vehicle down. The Maruti rammed in to an army Gypsy and was hurled several feet into the air by the explosion, they said. The police, quoted by the PTI, said that the explosion occurred in a stationery vehicle.

The Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, which has owned responsibility for the blast claiming to have inflicted heavy causalities on the security forces, has said that it was a suicide attack.

The blast killed Major Kupil Vinayak, two other personnel, identified as Ram Krishen and Subhash Chander, and a civilian, Naseer Ahmad Bhat of Buchwara, Dalgate, who worked as an accountant in the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST).

Those injured in the attack include Kaisar Hussain Mir of Pandrethan, Abdul Rahman Wani of Sonawar, Shugufta of Haft Chinar, Ruby Akhtar, Ghulam Qadir Dhobi, Muhammad Sultan, Abdul Majeed Ganai, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani and Azad Ahmad Khan of Dooru Anantnag. Muhammad Suban of Zero Bridge. Ghulam Muhammad Bhat, Sakina Akhter of Tangmarg. Convent School employee Roshni Akhtar, constable Tahmina. Dara Singh of Mattan, Muhammad Yousuf Wani of Haft Chinar, and Narendar Hakka of Shivpora.

Two of the four injured security personnel have been identified as Shankar Rao and driver Ghosh.

The blast, which was heard over a large area, left the area strewn with bleeding bodies and twisted metal of damaged vehicles. The Maruti car used in the blast was blown to bits and only its engine could be recovered by the police The army Gypsy was wrecked, and three other vehicles were damaged

Window panes of the nearby L1C office, the Highland Motors showroom, the official residence of the chief justice of the state high court, and several other buildings were smashed by the impact of the explosion.