Bomb kills nearly 40 in deadliest attack on troops in Kashmir
SRINAGAR, Kashmir — Nearly 40 paramilitary troopers were killed on Thursday when a car bomb planted by militants struck their convoy in India-administered Kashmir, officials and media reported, in what is considered the deadliest rebel attack on security forces in the region.
Twenty more Central Reserve Police Force personnel were injured after the convoy was targeted on a highway in Pulwama district, a known stronghold of the militants.
One of the buses bore the brunt of the explosion, while several buses in the 70-vehicle convoy carrying more than 2,000 troops were damaged, local police said.
Officials said initial investigations suggested that the vehicle used by militants was carrying more than 770 pounds of explosives.
K Vijay Kumar, adviser to the local government, told the ANI news agency that the death toll in the attack was around 40. Police sources generally corroborated the figure.
Indian leaders lashed out against the militants and vowed to avenge the attack. A Pakistanbased Islamist group, Jaish-e-Mohammad ( JeM) claimed responsibility.
“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,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi noted on Twitter, condemning the attack.
Media reports citing Home Ministry sources said it was a “possible suicide attack,” but there was no confirmation about the manner in which it was executed.
The officials said the attack could have involved either militants ramming an explosives-laden vehicle into the convoy or a stationary vehicle piled with explosives being triggered remotely by rebels.
More than a dozen soldiers were in a critical condition, and the death toll could increase, broadcaster NDTV reported.
Indian Kashmir has seen a deadly secessionist militant movement since the 1980s. Overall, close to 45,000 rebels, security personnel and civilians have died in the conflict.
Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan administer separate portions of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.
India claims Pakistan aids and abets militancy in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies. It calls Kashmiri militants freedom fighters.
It is said to be the worst militant attack since the turn of the century. In October 2001, rebels carried out a suicide car bombing at the state assembly building that killed 38 people. That attack was also carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad.
But Thursday’s attack could represent the worst ever death toll of security force members in a single attack in Indian Kashmir.
In the most serious attack on security forces in recent years, JeM militants had targeted an army base in the Uri area in September 2016, which claimed the lives of 19 soldiers.
The Indian army responded with a cross-border “surgical strike” in which they claimed to have destroyed several“terrorist launching pads” along the border.
Thursday’s attack is likely to worsen the already strained ties between India and Pakistan, Indian analysts said.
The JeM is led by Pakistanbased Masood Azhar, released by India in exchange for passengers of a hijacked Indian airplane in December 1999 and whose designation as a terrorist at the U.N. Security Council has been blocked by China in recent years, Indian officials say.