Militant blows himself up in first suicide attack in Valley

SRINAGAR, APRIL 20: In the first suicidal attack in the Valley, a militant blew himself up in an explosive-laden car when he was intercept...

SRINAGAR, APRIL 20: In the first suicidal attack in the Valley, a militant blew himself up in an explosive-laden car when he was intercepted by sentries at the main gate of the Badamibagh Cantonment on Wednesday afternoon. The militant was trying to ram his way into the Army’s 15 Corps headquaters. Four Armymen and three civilians were injured in the attack.

This is first such attack, carried out on the lines of the Tamil Tigers, in the 11-year-old insurgency movement in Kashmir. Earlier, the fidayeens of the pan-Islamic Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and the Lashkar-e-Toiba had carried out around a dozen suicide missions by sneaking into Army and other security force installations, which guaranteed a certain amount of escape chances. So far the militants avoided intentional suicide because of its clear prohibition in Islam.

This attack, however, is being viewed as a change in the militant strategy. According to Brigade General Staff (BGS), 15 Corps Brig. M C Bhandari, at around 3.55 pm, a red Maruti car (DL-3CC 4045) turned towards the Batwara gate from the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway and the militant driving this explosive-laden car detonated it as soon as he was intercepted by the sentry.

Story continues below this ad

“The body of the militant along with the car were blown into pieces. The explosive was planted in the rear side of the car and the militant detonated it as soon as he was challanged by our man around 50 metres away from the entrance,” Brig Bhandari said.

He said there was absolutely no possibility of this explosive-laden car sneaking into the cantonment area as all the barriers were down.

A part of the militant’s head was lying near the site of the explosion while his body parts was thrown at least 40 metres away. Calling the attack a desperate act, he said, “It was aimed to attract media attention and boost the sagging morale of the militants.” He, however, did not see this attack as a begining of a dangerous trend.

“There are a few militants who have this jehadi mindset and are ready to commit such acts. But what have they achieved? Today also there are just four of our men, who have received injuries,” Brig Bhandari said. Ruling out any impact on troop morale, he said: “We in fact are extremely happy on the alertness of the sentry. Our men have responded very well to this desperate bid.”

Story continues below this ad

Sources in the police claimed that the number plates of the Maruti car were fake. “The car was snatched from a woman at gunpoint from Lal Bazar locality of the city at around 2 pm. It seems the militants had planned this attack in a hurry,” a senior police officer said.

Incidentally, Lalbazar is around half-an-hour’s drive from the spot and the attack took place within two hours after the car was snatched. However, the identity of the militant and his outfit were not known as yet.

Senior Army and State police officers rushed to the spot where the forces are conducting further investigations. The National Highway has been sealed for all traffic and the entire residential area near the 15 Corps headquaters has been cordoned off.