On Thursday, at least 42 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed when a bus was torn through in a fidayeen attack (suicide attack) in which they were travelling in. The incident took place in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Pulwama terror attack: Suicide bomber drives SUV packed with 300 kg explosives into CRPF bus, 44 men martyred
Not only the blast but also the gunshots were also heard following the blast on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Awantipora. Fatalities are likely to go up, as per the officials. This is the most awful terror strike Jammu and Kashmir has seen in decades.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the terror attack on the CRPF convoy by stating “Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. 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”
Scorpio SUV With 300 Kg Explosives Rammed CRPF Bus
As per the reports from the officials, terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the shameful attack on CRPF jawans. The powerful blast, which concentrated the bus to a crushed heap of iron, was also heard from many kilometres away.
Jaish terrorist was identified as Adil Ahmed Dar who knock against his explosives loaded SUV into one of the buses of the CRPF convoy leaving about 42 jawans killed and more than 20 jawans injured in serious conditions.
According to the reports, almost 2,500 jawans were moving from Jammu to Srinagar and were part of the over 70-vehicle CRPF contingent. The convoy marched from Jammu about 3.30 am and was thought to be reaching Srinagar before the sunset.
As per the official reports from the initial investigations revealed that the vehicle which knock against into the CRPF bus was loaded with almost 200 kg explosives.
CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar said, “Senior officers are at the spot, the investigation is underway. Injured being taken care of. There were 2500 personnel in the convoy”.
39 CRPF personnel killed in Jaish-claimed suicide attack on convoy
Because of the bad weather and other administrative reasons for the last two to three days there was no movement on the highway, the number of CRPF recruits travelling back to the Valley was high.
Usually, around 1,000 recruits are part of a convoy. A road inaugural party was organized and the convoy had reinforced counter-terror vehicles, officials said. The bus that was the centre of the attack belongs to the 76th battalion of the force.
Meanwhile, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said, “The attack was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish-e-Mohammed. I assure the people of the country that a strong reply will be given. The country pays tribute to the brave jawans who were martyred”.
Since 2001, this was the first suicide car bomb attack in Kashmir on the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in which 41 people, comprising three suicide invaders, were killed.
Previous terror attack on Indian Army in which a number of Army personnel were martyred was the attack on the Uri military base in September 2016, when JeM militants killed 18 Army jawans and injured dozens of others.
