Car bomb kills Indian soldiers in Kashmir

Attack: Militant group has claimed responsibility for 33 deaths

At least 33 Indian soldiers were killed and 20 others wounded in a car bomb attack on a convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Officials said a local Kashmiri militant rammed an explosive-laden van into the convoy, targeting a bus carrying at least 35 soldiers.

Senior police officer Muneer Ahmed Khan said the attack occurred as the convoy reached the town of Lethpora on the outskirts of the city of Srinagar.

He said a bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged by the blast, which was one of the deadliest car bombings in the region’s history.

Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman for India’s paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force, said many of the injured were in a critical condition.

“The blast was so powerful that one cannot recognise whether the vehicle was a bus or a truck. Just pieces of mangled steel remain of the vehicle,” he said.

The Greater Kashmir newspaper reported that militant group Jaishe-Mohammed claimed responsibility for the attack. It quoted a local news gathering agency as saying a militant rammed an explosive-laden car into the convoy.

A pre-recorded nineminute video, circulated on social media sites, showed the purported attacker in combat clothes and surrounded by guns and grenades. He was identified by local news sites as a Kashmiri rebel named Adil Ahmed, from the southern Pulwama area.

Later yesterday, thousands of people, chanting slogans such as “Brother Adil, your blood will bring revolution”, and “Go India, go back”, marched to the militant’s village in solidarity.

Government forces tried to stop the villagers from gathering, leading to clashes as groups of young people hurled stones at the troops, who fired tear gas.

Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik accused Pakistan of guiding the attack.

India and Pakistan each claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989.

Many Kashmiris support the rebels’ demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown.

DISPUTED TERRITORY: Indian soldiers stand guard on a road near the site of the explosion in Pampore in Indian-controlled Kashmir