For the villagers of Khandroo, the first blast at one of the Army’s biggest ammunition depots in Kashmir sounded like a crack of thunder. The big bang was followed by a succession of explosions that sent shells and wreckage flying around, forcing the Army to evacuate people living within a six kilometer radius. Till late Saturday evening, the explosions had not stopped, three people were dead and at least 30 were injured. The first explosion took place at 9.20 am, soon followed by a massive fire fuelled by the successive blasts. Even though the Army ruled out any sabotage and said it was an accident, by evening two militant outfits—Hizbul Mujahideen and Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen—had claimed responsibility for the fire. “We used our sources in the Army to plant a timer in the depot which caused the blast,” Hizb spokesman Junaidul Islam said in a statement. Similarly, the spokesman of Jamiatul Mujahideen Jamil Ahmad said the outfit fired two rockets into the depot which caused the blasts and the fire. However, Defence spokesman Col A K Mathur termed the claims baseless. “There is no possibility of any sabotage. It was an accident,” he said. He added that the Army had information that the fire may have started from the highly combustible “white phosphorous ammunition” in one of the sheds.The depot, also called a21 Field Ammunition Depot (FAD) employed a large number of locals in different capacities. But Mathur said there was no reason to suspect “our civilian employees”. The destruction of the depot, the biggest and the oldest in Kashmir, is the first major accident in two decades of militancy. The depot, spread over an area of one and a half kilometer, contains ammunition for troops deployed near the Line of Control. Around 15 villages located around the depot bore of the brunt of the blasts and the fire. District administration and the Army had a tough time evacuating people to safer places.Meanwhile, Army sources in Delhi said the loss of ammunition would have no effect on the Army’s operational capabilities in the Valley as all gun positions and Army units had adequate stocks and reserves in place. In the past seven years, accidental fires at ordnance depots have resulted in loss of equipment and ammunition worth Rs 850 crore, figures quoted in Parliament said.
