Srinagar, February 14 (KNO) : At least 42 jawans of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were killed in a deadly attack after a Jaish-e-Muhammad Fidayeen militant rammed his vehicle into the convoy killing himself as well.
The well-planned attack used a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (known as VBIED) to target a CRPF bus that was part of a 70-vehicle convoy.
The convoy was on the Srinagar-Jammu highway and was on its way to Pulwama when a suicide bomber driving an explosive-laden SUV crashed into the bus. The bus had 50 jawans on board when the SUV crashed into it, a top CRPF officer told KNO. “At least 42 of our men were killed while 47 sustained grave injuries,” a top CRPF officer said.
The bus was completely destroyed in the attack. The site of the attack resembled a war zone with body parts and vehicle debris strewn about. One of the CRPF buses in the convoy was blown up in the powerful IED blast. The attack took place when the convoy was passing through the Gundipoora section of the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama's Awantipora area.
The convoy was made up of buses, trucks and SUVs. Each bus/truck was carrying 35-40 jawans of the CRPF. Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. A spokesperson of the organisation said "dozens of forces' vehicles were destroyed in the attack".
Jaish-e-Mohammad identified the suicide bomber as Adil Ahmad Dar and even released a video of him. In the video, Adil Dar can be seen brandishing rifles and standing in front of Jaish-e-Muhammad banners. Meanwhile, an alert was sounded across Kashmir to foil any possible strike by the militants.
“After every attack, an alert is sounded. All the security installations have been asked to maintain alert,” he said. Meanwhile, Director General of CRPF R K Bhatnagar said that it was a deadliest attack in the last two decades. “We have suffered a lot in this attack,” he said.(KNO)