IED blast in Kulgam martyrs 1 jawan, 3 injured; IGP Kashmir says 'JeM behind attack'

In the first terrorist attack of 2021, an army man was martyred and three others were injured in an IED blast that was planted inside a Government Middle School near Subhanpora in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Wednesday.

Four personnel of a road opening party (ROP) of the Army’s 24 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) were injured as the IED went off as 24 RR personnel would often use the verandah of the school building on a regular basis for various purposes.

The injured soldiers were immediately shifted to 92 base hospital in Srinagar, where one of them succumbed to the injuries.
The school building also got damaged due to the IED blast that was planted inside the building. Immediately after the attack, the Army along with other security forces cordoned off the area and launched a manhunt to nab the attackers.

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'Terrorists will be neutralised soon': IGP Kashmir

While speaking to Republic Media Network, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir zone, Vijay Kumar said that "the initial investigation reveals that the JeM outfit carried out this attack on security forces and the terrorists involved will be neutralized soon. Nobody will be allowed to disturb peace on ground.”

As per the initial investigation, "a rudimentary IED with a low powered explosive and ball bearings was planted in an abandoned building inside this school premises. 24 RR personnel would often use the verandah of the school building for diverse purposes," IGP Kumar said.

Kumar added, "preliminary details indicate that the IED was planted in the night before the incident that also indicates that the attack was planned well in advance after observing the movement of troops for a sustained period of time."

"JKP have observed a trend where terrorists have changed their modus operandi and adopted Guerrilla warfare, which is hit-and-run tactics as was seen in many terror attacks carried by terrorists against forces in the Valley. Terrorists targeted jawans deployed for Naka checkpoints and road opening parties or at times target the places that are quite often used by security forces for various purposes as was witnessed in today’s incident,” Kumar said.

Meanwhile, police has registered a case with FIR no 05 of 2021 under relevant sections in police station Qaimoh and an investigation has been set into motion.

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