Srinagar: Militants on Monday attacked an army convoy with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, barely four months after a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy killed 40 troopers in the same district.
The police said an IED was exploded by the militants in Arihal village in Pulwama district when an army convoy was passing through the area.
“The IED exploded under a Casper vehicle of the army which was damaged in the blast. The explosion was followed by an exchange of fire which is still going on,” police sources said.
Casper vehicles are landmine proof vehicles used by the Indian Army in the militancy-prone areas of Jammu and Kashmir to avert damage to the troops during convoy movement.
A Casper vehicle usually moves ahead of the convoy to avert the threats posed by landmines.
However, massive IEDs, which are very crude explosive devices laden with a lot of trigger and charge, have caused damages to Casper vehicles in the Valley in the past.
Nine soldiers injured
Nine soldiers suffered minor injuries after militants attacked an army vehicle with an improvised explosive device (IED) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, officials said.
“A failed attempt was made to attack a mobile vehicle patrol of 44 Rashtriya Rifles with a vehicle-based IED while the army patrol was moving in the general area of Arihal in Pulwama on Monday evening,” defence spokesman, Col. Rajesh Kalia told IANS.
“Troops all safe. Few minor injuries. Reports of attack on an Army convoy are unfounded and baseless,” he added.
Police sources said nine soldiers had suffered injuries in this explosion and have been shifted to army’s base hospital in Srinagar city.
With reinforcements of security forces immediately reaching the explosion site, the area has been cordoned off and searches are in progress, officials said.
Earlier, reports said that militants exploded an IED under a Casper vehicle, extensively damaging it, as an army convoy passed through Arihal village. However, the army clarified that the damaged vehicle was not a Casper, but an Ashok Leyland Stallion truck.
Caspers are landmine proof vehicles used by the Indian Army in the militancy-prone areas of Jammu and Kashmir to avert damage to the troops during convoy movement. They usually moves ahead of the convoy to avert the threats posed by landmines.
