At least 42 Indian forces have been killed in a suicide attack in southern part of India-administered Kashmir, the worst such attack in two decades of Kashmir conflict.

The suspected attacker, a local rebel, rammed his explosives-laden car into a bus carrying paramilitary troopers in Lethpora village near Awantipora along a highway in Pulwama district on Thursday.

The national highway connects Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar with the region’s southern parts.

A senior official, who was not authorised to speak to the media, told Al Jazeera that at least 42 paramilitary personnel were confirmed dead in the attack and over a dozen wounded.

“The casualty in the incident is 42,” the official said, adding that it was the worst ever attack carried out by the rebels. He said car bomb attacks were rare in Kashmir.

The official said buses carrying the paramilitary troopers were returning in a convoy to Srinagar when a Scorpio car rammed into one of the buses.

“The attack happened late afternoon on Thursday. The wounded have been shifted to hospitals. We are still ascertaining the facts,” the official said.

Images from the site of the blast showed a bus completely burned as dozens of bodies lay scattered on the highway.

“There were arms and hands lying all over. I even saw the brain that had come out of a trooper’s body,” a witness told Al Jazeera.

Vijay Kumar, adviser to the governor of the state, told Al Jazeera, “Thirty-eight to 40 casualties have been caused in the incident.”

A statement issued by the Jammu and Kashmir police said 33 troopers were confirmed dead. “The exact number of casualties is being ascertained,” it said.

“It was the worst attack in 20 years,” a senior police official told Al Jazeera.

Security forces have sealed the entire area and internet services have been suspended in south Kashmir. Media persons have been barred from visiting the blast site.

Pakistan-based rebel group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to a local news agency.

India has condemned the attack, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it “despicable” and “dastardly”. Home Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Kashmir region on Friday to take stock of the situation.

In a statement late on Thursday night, Pakistan called the attack in “Indian Occupied Kashmir a matter of grave concern”.

“We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations,” Islamabad said.

‘Local attacker’

 Officials described Thursday’s incident as a “fidayeen” (human bomb) attack, suspected to have been carried out by 20-year-old rebel, Adil Dar, from Pulwama in southern Kashmir.

JeM released a video following the attack, in which Dar purportedly said, “By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven … This is my last message for the people of Kashmir.”

Dar reportedly joined the rebels in March last year when he was still in high school, officials said.

Police records accessed exclusively by Al Jazeera said he used to work in a bandsaw workshop, where he used to make wooden boxes. He is described as “not [an]orthodox” Muslim, who did not “offer prayers regularly”.

Dar went missing on March 19 last year. “On that day, he came to his house for having lunch and went back to work, but he did not reach the said place… [and instead]joined militancy,” police records said.

When his whereabouts were not known and he “kept his phone switched off”, the family lodged a complaint with the police on March 23, 2018, according to officials.

Dar’s father, Ghulam Hassan Dar, told Al Jazeera he saw his son “only once after he picked up the gun”.

“In this war, people from both sides die. This politics is being played by leaders. Everyone should rather ask the question why the youth are picking up guns, and that should be addressed,” Dar said from his home in Pulwama’s Gundibagh village.

Kashmiri rebels first introduced the “fidayeen” squad in 1999 in the immediate aftermath of a low-intensity war between India and Pakistan in the Himalayan region of Kargil.

Most of the “fidayeen” attacks have been carried out by foreign attackers affiliated with two Pakistan-based outfits, JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), with fewer Kashmiri rebels participating in such raids.

The suicide attacks carried out by “fidayeen” squads against India establishments have worsened India’s frosty relations with its neighbour and rival, Pakistan.

It has been several years since Kashmiri rebels began “fidayeen” attacks, which Indian security officials say are “difficult to prevent as attackers intend to kill and get killed”.

In January last year, two local rebels carried out a similar raid at a military base in the same village at Lethpora, which was claimed by the JeM.

Police had then identified the two rebels as 16-year-old Fardeen Ahmad Khanday and 24-year-old Manzoor Ahmad Baba, both residents of Pulwama.

‘Felt like an earthquake’

 A Kashmiri local who was standing at a distance from the site of the Thursday blast said it “felt like an earthquake” had hit the area.

“I felt everything shaking for a moment, then there was smoke. I felt my body was moving and the earth beneath my feet was opening up. It was a very powerful explosion,” the 45-year-old resident, who refused to be identified, told Al Jazeera.

“I walked a little near the spot and there were body parts lying everywhere. It was a bloody scene,” he said.

Another resident Shameema Ashraf, who lives in Lethpora, said there was chaos everywhere. “We were sitting inside our home. We only heard the explosion but did not know what had happened.”

Districts in the southern Kashmir region have remained restive since the killing of the young rebel commander Burhan Wani in 2016.

The highest number of gun battles in the disputed Kashmir region have taken place in these districts, where the rebels have also suffered the highest casualties.

Last year was also Kashmir’s bloodiest since 2009. According to rights group Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, 528 people were killed in 2018, including 145 civilians.

Thursday’s attack also came at a time when India is preparing for parliamentary elections due in two months.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is one of the world’s most militarised regions. A majority of residents here support the rebels in their fight against the Indian security forces.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for India-administered Kashmir to either become independent or merge with Pakistan. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. </s> A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives rammed a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops, part of a large paramilitary convoy, on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Thursday, was feared to have killed at least44 men while reducing the vehicle to a mangled heap of metal, in the deadliest terror attack in three decades of insurgency — one, which many experts said, would evoke a strong response from India.

At least 20 more were injured in the attack in the Awantipora area of Pulwama district. Terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which Indian authorities say is backed by Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack that took place in Lethpora, about 30 km from Srinagar. While the police put the official death toll at 33, security officials in Srinagar and New Delhi said at least 44 people had died.

Jaish said the suicide bombing was carried out by a local militant whom it identified as Adil Ahmad Dar of Pulwama.He joined the Jaish in 2018, PTI cited unnamed officials as saying. The Jaish claimed in a statement that the vehicle was carrying 350 kg of explosives, which Indian authorities did not confirm.

“Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack,” PM Narendra Modi said in a statement as political parties denounced the attack in unison. “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.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter: “I’m deeply disturbed by the cowardly attack on a #CRPF convoy in J&K in which many of our brave CRPF men have been martyred and a large number wounded, some critically.” In a tweet, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala charged the Modi government with compromising national security and said terror attacks had taken place unabated under it.

The attack may ratchet up tensions between India and Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik said the fact that Jaish owned up to carrying out the attack indicated that Pakistan may have had a hand in it. Minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitender Singh, told television channels that the attack had led to a “war- like” situation.

“This is a bigger attack than Uri. Unlike the Uri attack, a Pakistan-based terror group has claimed responsibility There will be much more pressure on Pakistan, but my hunch is, because a Pakistan-based group has claimed responsibility, New Delhi too, will have to act. The form and shape of the retaliation will be the government’s prerogative,” said General DS Hooda, former Northern Army commander.

The ministry of external affairs, while condemning the “heinous and despicable act perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation proscribed by the United Nations and other countries” called for its chief Masood Azhar to be listed as a designated terrorist under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.

The security establishments at the Centre and in the state, which is under federal rule, were huddled in meetings to take stock of the situation following the attack that precedes general elections, likely to be held simultaneously with state elections, in the spring of 2019. National security adviser Ajit Doval was monitoring the situation and senior CRPF officials were briefing him.

The Cabinet committee on security affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, is to meet on Friday to decide on and articulate India’s response. Home minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar on Friday to assess the situation.

Thursday’s attack was the deadliest since insurgency broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989. In the previous worst terror strike, 38 people were killed in a car bomb attack in Srinagar near the legislative assembly in October 2001.

In September 2016, four terrorists attacked an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, killing 19 army personnel.That attack was the spark for a retaliatory surgical strike on terrorist camps across the LoC by Indian forces just days later.

Near the town of Kaluchak in 2002, three militants attacked a tourist bus from Himachal Pradesh and killed seven people after which they raided the nearby army family quarters and shot 23 people to death — 10 children, eight women and five soldiers.

According to some accounts, in Thursday’s attack, the driver of the car positioned himself in the opposite direction on a lane next to the one on which the CRPF convoy was travelling on, and swerved and rammed the CRPF bus when he noticed the unarmoured vehicle.

CRPF’s inspector general (operations) Zulfiqar Hassan said the Jammu and Kashmir police had taken over the investigation of the terror attack “There were around 78 vehicles in the convoy and one of the vehicles came under attack. The convoy was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar,” he said.

The CRPF convoy of around 2,500 troopers left the Channi Rama transit camp in Jammu around 3:30am and was headed to the Bakshi Stadium camp in Srinagar when the vehicle was attacked, said Jammu-based CRPF spokesman Ashish Kumar Jha. From Bakshi Stadium, they were to have travelled to their respective camps.

Over the past week, no CRPF envoy had been able to travel on the highway because it had been blocked by snow, Jha said. “Therefore, the number of the CRPF jawans [in the convoy] swelled. The incident happened around 3.15pm,” he said.

When asked if there had been a security lapse, he said, “A thorough probe will be conducted but such a large convoy is visible from a distance itself. CRPF jawans belonged to different battalions. Points of halt and resuming journey of such convoys are always fixed”.

International governments, and national and regional political parties condemned the attack.

“The U.S. Mission in India strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The United States stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it,” the US ambassador to India Ken Juster tweeted.

The French government also “condemned in the strongest terms the vile attack” that struck India. Sri Lanka and Maldives, too, expressed support after Thursday’s attack.

In a message, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said: “Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.”

Home minister Rajnath Singh said: “Today’s dastardly attack on CRPF in Pulwama is extremely painful and disturbing. I bow to each and every CRPF jawan who has sacrificed his life in service to the nation. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

His colleague Arun Jaitley tweeted: “Terrorists will be given an unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s sister , Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who joined active politics last month,said in Lucknow: “We demand that this government take concrete steps to ensure such terror attacks don’t happen in the future.”

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the attack was reminiscent of pre-2004 days in the Valley. “Jaish has claimed the blast as a suicide [fidaeen] attack reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre-2004-05,” Abdullah wrote on Twitter, adding, “I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured & condolences to the families of the bereaved.”

Peoples Democratic Party chief and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said: “No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?” </s> The attack was one of the the biggest on Indian security forces in Kashmir

A militant attack on a convoy of vehicles carrying paramilitary soldiers of the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has killed at least 40 personnel and injured dozens.

Thirteen of the injured are believed to be in critical condition.

According to police, an SUV car laden with approximately 350kg of explosives rammed into the bus carrying 39 members of the 76 Battalion of CRPF at 3.15pm.

The bus was part of a 70-vehicle convoy carrying more than 2,500 security personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

The attack happened on the highway in Pulwama district about 12 miles from the state capital Srinagar.

Speaking to reporters, inspector general of police SP Pani said: "We are investigating the nature of the explosion.

"There has been a number of casualties and the injured have been taken to hospital.

"We are combing the site and we are investigating the bomb attack."

Pictures from the attack site show the 55-seater bus reduced to a mangled heap of metal.

Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement to a local news service, the terror group claims the bomb laden vehicle was driven by Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando.

Members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad are allegedly involved in a number of attacks in Indian administered Kashmir, including the Pathankot Air base attack in 2016 in which seven soldiers were killed.

The organisation has been designated a terror group by the United States, Britain, Russia, Pakistan and a number of other western countries.

K.Vijay Kumar, adviser to the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, said: "We are still trying to confirm if a foreign terrorist is involved in the attack, we are verifying the claims put out by Jaish-e-Mohammad."

He added: "We have killed more than 250 militants including 19 commanders of various terror organisations since last year and we will keep doing so."

Home minister Rajnath Singh said: "The attack was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish e Mohammed. A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this."

The foreign ministry said it was "firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security".

It also called for Pakistan to "stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory".

Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, said he was "shocked by the dastardly terrorist attack in which CRPF personnel were martyred.

"My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families and prayers for speedy recovery of the injured."

This has been one of the biggest attacks on Indian security forces in Kashmir.

In September 2016, a pre-dawn militant attack on the brigade headquarters of the Indian Army in Uri led to the deaths of 23 soldiers.

India blamed militants from Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack.

In retaliation, India conducted surgical strikes 11 days later on what it termed as "launch pads" used by militants in Pakistan administrated Kashmir. </s> Srinagar: Four Army personnel, including a major were martyred and two Jaish terrorists were killed in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, three days after a suicide bomber from the group drove his explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in the area, defence officials said.

A civilian was also killed in the exchange of fire in Pinglan area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district, they said.

“The terrorists are believed to be linked to the February 14 car bombing. The exact identities of the two terrorists killed are being ascertained,” a defence spokesperson said.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation during the night after receiving inputs about the presence of militants in the area, a police official said.

Militants fired at forces as the searches got under way, triggering a gun battle, officials said.

The Jaish-e-Mohammed has claimed responsibility for the February 14 terror attack that left 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel dead and five critically wounded.(PTI) </s> Four Indian soldiers died in a fierce battle with Kashmir militants on Monday just days after a suicide bomber killed at least 41 paramilitaries in the troubled territory, officials said.

The confrontation piled more pressure on the Indian government, which has blamed Pakistan for Thursday’s suicide attack on a paramilitary convoy that sparked widespread calls for action against the country’s neighbour and nuclear arch-rival.

Shooting continued for hours after military and police sources reported that four soldiers, two militants and a civilian were killed in Pulwama district, south of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Police said that security forces killed two suspected organisers of the attack, who were both Pakistani nationals and members of JeM.

With tension mounting, Pakistan withdrew its envoy to India for consultations, a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Twitter on Monday.

An army major was among the dead, according to the Indian army. Police said another soldier and a civilian were critically wounded.

Hundreds of soldiers raided villages and fired warning shots at a suspected militant hideout, unleashing the firefight in the village of Pinglan. </s> At least 39 CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in. Here is a chronological list of all major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two decades.



26 August 2017 -- Three Jaish terrorists storm District Police Lines Pulwama, killing eight security force personnel, before the assailants were shot dead.

29 November 2016 -- Three terrorists storm Army artillery camp at Nagrota in Jammu, killing seven soldiers, before the assailants were eliminated.

18 September 2016 -- Four storm an Army camp at Uri in Baramulla district, killing 18 soldiers, most of them were in sleep. The assailants were also killed. The incident led to reprisal surgical strikes inside the Pakistan occupied Kashmir by Indian Army.

 



ALSO READ: Sacrifices of security personnel won't go in vain: Modi on Pulwama attack

25 June 2016 -- Terrorists open indiscriminate firing on a CRPF bus, killing eight jawans at Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

3 June 2016 -- Terrorists target a CRPF bus at Pampore, killing two personnel before taking refuge in a government building. Two-day encounter ends with killing of three soldiers including two officers and the two assailants. One civilian was also killed.

5 December 2014 -- Six heavily-armed terrorists storm an Army camp at Mohra in Uri. Ten soldiers were killed in the gun battle with the intruders, who were all shot dead.

24 June 2013 -- Terrorists ambush a bus carrying unarmed Army personnel at Hyderpora in Eight soldiers were killed in the attack.

19 July 2008 -- Ten soldiers were killed when terrorists triggered an IED planted by the roadside at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway on the outskirts of the city.

 



ALSO READ: 30 CRPF personnel killed in J&K's Pulwama as Jaish militants attack convoy

2 November 2005 -- A suicide bomber blew up his car at Nowgam, near the private residence of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, killing three cops and six civilians.

20 July 2005 -- A suicide car bomber blew his vehicle by ramming it into a vehicle of security forces. Three security force personnel and two civilians were killed.

24 June 2005 -- Nine army soldiers were killed in a car bomb triggered by terrorists on the outskirts of

4 August 2004 -- Nine were killed in a terrorist attack on their camp at Rajbagh in One terrorist was also killed in retaliatory action.

 



ALSO READ: Rajnath speaks to J&K governor after Pulwama attack; likely to visit state

8 April 2004 -- 11 persons were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists on a PDP rally at Uri in Baramulla district. The PDP was demanding opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road.

22 July 2003 -- Eight soldiers, including a Brigadier, were killed in a terrorists attack on their camp at Akhnoor. Several other senior Army officers sustained injuries in the attack.

28 June 2003 -- 12 soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a suicide attack by terrorists on Sunjwan Army camp. Two terrorists were neutralised.

14 May 2002 -- In one of the biggest strikes on an Army installation, 36 persons were killed by three terrorists who stormed the Kaluchak Army Cantonment in Jammu. The assailants were also killed.

17 November 2001 -- Terrorists storm a security forces base in Ramban (then part of Doda district), killing 10 security forces. Four terrorists were also killed.

 



ALSO READ: 838 terrorists, 183 civilians killed in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014: Govt

1 October 2001 -- Terrorists trigger a car bomb outside the old Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar. 38 persons were killed while three assailants were also eliminated.

10 August 2000 -- Terrorists hurl a grenade at Residency Road in Srinagar. As the security officials assembled at the spot, they triggered a car bomb, killing 11 persons and a photojournalist.

19 April 2000 -- The "human bomb" was used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency. Two soldiers were killed in the suicide car bomb at the Army headquarters at Badamibagh area in Srinagar. </s> SRINAGAR (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber rammed a bus carrying Indian police officers in Kashmir on Thursday, killing 30 of them in a major attack on security forces in the disputed region that could raise tensions with Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force on Jammu and Kashmir’s main highway, a local news agency said.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan, which both claim the entire territory as theirs while ruling part of it.

India accuses Pakistan of giving material support to the militants. Islamabad says it only offers moral and diplomatic support to Muslim Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.

Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist militants in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare.

“I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. 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,” Modi said in a tweet.

The last major attack was in 2016 when militants raided an Indian army camp in Uri that killed 20 soldiers. Tension with Pakistan rose after New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the attack.

Thursday’s explosion was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-metre stretch of the highway.

A Jaish-e-Mohammad spokesman, in a statement carried by GNS new agency, said dozens of security force vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

Jaish-e-Mohammad, one of the most powerful militant groups operating in Kashmir, was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan.

On Wednesday, an explosion at a school in Kashmir wounded a dozen students. The cause of the blast remains unclear. </s> A suicide bomber killed at least six people and wounded 18 when he blew himself up near an army vehicle taking part in a census in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Wednesday, officials in the area said. Punjab government spokesman Malik Ahmed Khan told Geo TV that four soldiers and two civilian bystanders were among the dead.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Reuters. </s> A CRPF soldier was killed and five others were seriously injured in a major suicide attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district on Wednesday. At least two militants also died in the fidayeen attack.

Sources told International Business Times, India, that a group of militants attacked a police patrolling party at the busy KP Road and there could be more casualties.

The Station House Officer of the Anantnag police station was also injured. This is the major terror attack after the suicide bombing on a bus ferrying CRPF soldiers in Pulwama district on February 14.
At least 46 members of India's security forces are killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up as a convoy of military vehicles drove on a highway in Jammu and Kashmir.