Terror face in quake time: woman with bomb killed

In what marks a first in the 16 years of militant violence in the Valley, a suspected woman suicide bomber blew herself up on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway at Awantipora. The blast occurred at 11.30 am creating panic in the town.

Superintendent of Police Awantipur Ghulam Mohmmad Dar told The Indian Express: ‘‘We are exploring various leads so that the identity of the young woman bomber is established.’’ He said that the police had found her handbag while the bomb had shattered her body. Three grenades were also recovered.

In a telephone statement to a local news agency in Srinagar, Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad, the banned militant group, claimed that the woman was Hafsa, a suicide bomber of its women’s wing, Banati Ayesha (daughter of Ayesha).

‘‘The suicide bomber tried to run and entered the compound of a nearby house. In a fraction of second, a massive blast took place,’’ said Dar. Several houses were damaged.