Small Wars Journal

More Than 30 Killed in Deadliest Attack on Indian Security Forces in Kashmir in 3 Decades

Thu, 02/14/2019 - 11:05am

More Than 30 Killed in Deadliest Attack on Indian Security Forces in Kashmir in 3 Decades by Joanna Slater – Washington Post

A massive bomb exploded on a highway in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Thursday, killing more than 30 Indian security personnel, according to police.

 

The death toll makes it the worst militant attack in the restive region since the conflict began in 1989.

 

The attack occurred Thursday afternoon near the city of Srinagar as a security convoy traveled down a heavily guarded stretch of road. Media reports indicate that a car laden with explosives detonated near a bus carrying Indian paramilitary forces. Dozens were injured.

 

“It’s a terror incident, and we are looking into the possibility of what led to this blast,” S.P. Pani, chief of Kashmir’s police, told reporters.

 

The killings are likely to inflame tensions between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, which both claim the Himalayan region. India accuses Pakistan of sheltering and supporting militants who cross into Indian-controlled territory to carry out attacks as part of a three-decade insurgency against Indian rule.

 

Militant groups are fighting either for the territory’s independence or for its merger with Pakistan…

Read on.