Seven Armymen die in Hizbul attack on convoy

The Armymen were heading to the base camp at Srinagar from Chowkibal on the Line of Control when the blast took place around 5 pm.

“The explosion was extremely powerful. It was very loud. There was dust everywhere. Then everything stopped,” a shopkeeper near the Narbal chowk said. “I ran inside for cover.”

Traffic on the highway was disrupted for two hours and the Army was called in from the nearby Pattan camp to take stock of the situation. “The attack is first of its kind after a long lull. We feel the sudden spurt of attacks in J-K is the effect of the forthcoming assembly polls,” said an official.

Militants had lobbed grenades on Friday critically injuring 35 on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway at Banihal. Two days ago, the police had defused a powerful improvised explosive device at the outskirts of Baramulla town on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway.

While the three jawans, who survived the attack unhurt, were taken to the base camp in an ambulance the injured were airlifted to the 92 Base hospital at Badami Bagh cantonment.

The Commander, 10 Sector Rashtriya Rifles, Brigadier K A Muthanna told The Sunday Express that it is extremely difficult to prevent such attacks. “I can tell you that the IED had been planted during the night and the locals are involved in it. A lot of planning has gone into this attack and they managed to hit our bus,” he said.

Brigadier Muthanna said the soldiers were on their way home for holidays. “We have an elaborate arrangement for road protection in place and provide protection to all vehicles. We also take a lot of preventive measures and it is always a joint effort,” he said.

Soon after the terror attack, Hizbul Mujahideen spokesperson Junaid-ul-Haq called local news agencies taking responsibility for the blast.