India says mastermind of Kashmir blast killed
Print Edition
Indian forces yesterday killed three militants, including the suspected organizer of a suicide bombing in the disputed region of Kashmir that fueled tension between India and Pakistan, police said, with five troops also killed in the clash.
The suicide bomb attack on a paramilitary police convoy in Indian-controlled Kashmir last Thursday killed at least 40 men, the deadliest single assault on Indian forces in 30 years of insurgency in the Muslim-majority region.
The Pakistan-based militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad claimed responsibility for the attack. India accuses Pakistan for harboring the group. Pakistan denies that.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, facing an election that must be held by May, is under domestic pressure for decisive action against Pakistan. He has promised a strong response and says he has given the military a free hand to tackle cross-border militancy.
The three militants killed in the clash yesterday were all Pakistani nationals and members of JeM, two security sources said.
“The encounter is still in progress and the security forces are on the job,” police said in a statement.
But the 17-hour engagement, that ended shortly before 9:30pm, came at a cost for India’s security services.
Four Indian soldiers and a policeman were killed, while nine troops were wounded, including a brigadier, one of the army’s top roles, and a deputy inspector general of police.
A civilian was also killed.
“They have protection. Our officers and men are exposed, whereas they’re in the built up area, hiding,” said K Rajendra Kumar, a former director general of police in Jammu and Kashmir.
Security force sources said that one of the dead militants had been identified as Abdul Rashid Gazi, who went by the alias Kamran Bhai and is suspected of playing a leading role in organizing Thursday’s attack.
Indian troops had earlier cordoned off Pinglan village in Kashmir’s Pulwama district, where that attack took place.
Kashmir is at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. They both claim it in full but rule it in part.
India withdrew trade privileges offered to Pakistan after the bomb attack and has warned of further action.
With tension mounting, Pakistan withdrew its envoy to India for consultations, a spokesman for Pakistan’s foreign ministry said on Twitter yesterday.
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