At least 20 CRPF troopers were killed and some 25 others were injured on Thursday when a van packed with explosives reportedly rammed into a CRPF bus
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At least 30 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have been killed in an explosion in Awantipora area of Kashmir on Thursday, in one of the deadliest terror attacks on security forces in the valley in over a decade, police sources said.
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In what is being described as one of the biggest loss to the security forces in one single incident, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus was ambushed in Lethpora town, about 30 km from Srinagar.
The incident took place when some 2,547 CRPF personnel were coming in a convoy of 78 vehicles from the transit camp in Jammu and headed to Srinagar.
Jammu and Kashmir Police chief Dilbag Singh said it could well have been a suicide attack.
The attack took place at around 3.15 pm when CRPF convoy was moving from Jammu to Srinagar, they said. The convoy comprised 70 buses in which around 2500 personnel were travelling, according to Home Ministry sources in Delhi. The toll is expected to go up, the sources said.
This might be the deadliest attack on security forces in Kashmir since 2004 when 28 BSF personnel were killed in an attack.
Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a local news agency.
PDP President and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti condemned the attack.
In a tweet, she said, "Disturbing news coming in from #awantipura. Twelve of our security personnel have been martyred and several have been injured. No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends."
Disturbing news coming in from #awantipura . Twelve of our security personnel have been martyred and several have been injured. No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?
— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) February 14, 2019
National Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah also condemned the attack.
"Terrible news coming from the valley. A number of CRPF soldiers are reported to have been killed & injured in an IED blast. I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured & condolences to the families of the bereaved,"ÂÂÂÂÂÂu00c2u009d he tweeted.
Terrible news coming from the valley. A number of CRPF soldiers are reported to have been killed & injured in an IED blast. I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured & condolences to the families of the bereaved. #Kashmir
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 14, 2019
Jaish has claimed the blast as a suicide (fidaeen) attack reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre 2004-05. #Kashmir
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) February 14, 2019
"Jaish has claimed the blast as a suicide (fidaeen) attack reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre-2004-05," Abdullah added.
CRPF officials admitted that the bus which was the main target of the militants was destroyed fully and another CRPF vehicle was partly damaged.
"It is difficult to believe how anyone in the bus would survive," said one police officer.
Officials said the reason why so many CRPF personnel were on the move at one time was that the Srinagar-Jammu highway had been shut the past two days due to bad weather. The convoy left Jammu around 3.30 a.m.
One officer said earlier: "The IED had been planted inside a moving car on the highway and was detonated when the car came close to the CRPF bus."
Another officer said the CRPF and police would carry out a detailed investigation to understand the circumstances in which the attack took place.
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