Hizbul attack leaves Major, 8 jawans dead

On Thursday, five CRPF jawans were killed in a suicide attack by two fidayeen on their camp in Sopore.

Yesterday’s blast was triggered at around 5 p.m., when the soldiers were travelling from Anantnag towards their camp at Kulgam in a private Tata Sumo. The IED was hidden at a stretch that passes through paddy fields at Nayul Batapora, 5 km from the Srinagar-Jammu highway. According to sources, the soldiers had set out in two Tata Sumos, one of which took a different route.

Eyewitnesses said the blast created an eight-feet-deep crater on the road, and lifted the Sumo several metres in the air.

It took several hours for security forces—a search party—to reach the spot, as the terror-stricken villagers of the militant-infested area did not inform police about the incident.

This is the third such attack on this road, with security forces increasingly trying to camouflage their movements by hiring private vehicles.

Police IG (Kashmir range), Javaid Maqdoomi, termed the blast as an isolated incident but the recent spurt in violence suggests a shift in militant strategy.

After regrouping forces, taking advantage of the Centre’s policy shift from counter-insurgency operations to the peace process, they have suddenly increased their activities with winter setting in, said sources.

In fact, the mountain belt from Lolab Valley in Kupwara to Bandipore and Kangan—connected to Pahalgam and on to Pir Panchal and Doda— is infested with miliants, they said. Also emerging as militant hubs are the areas surrounding Kulgam and Shopian, and those on either side of the Srinagar-Jammu highway in the interiors, especially Anantnag, said sources.

Yesterday’s attack has also raised questions in the security establishment regarding counter-insurgency strategies. Forces had been avoiding IED attacks by camouflaging their movements and travelling in hired private vehicles, which they somehow managed to procure though no civilian driver wanted to put himself at risk.