At least 11 people were injured in a terror attack in Sunday market in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
Two women were among the 11 civilians injured when terrorists threw a grenade towards a CRPF bunker near a crowded flea market in the heart of the city.
The attack, which took place near the heavily-guarded Tourist Reception Centre (TRC), comes a day after a top Pakistani commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was eliminated by security forces in the Khanyar locality of downtown Srinagar.
Police and paramilitary forces have been rushed to the spot to evacuate the injured and launch a search operation to track the terrorists, officials said.
The explosion caused panic in the area and sent shoppers scrambling for cover.
Chief Minister Omar Abdullah described today’s attack as “deeply disturbing” and said that those responsible for people’s security “must do everything possible to end this spurt of attacks”.
“The last few days have been dominated by headlines of attacks & encounters in parts of the valley. Today’s news of a grenade attack on innocent shoppers at the ‘Sunday market’ in Srinagar is deeply disturbing. There can be no justification for targeting innocent civilians,” Abdullah posted on X (formally twitter).
In a huge achievement for the security forces, a top Pakistani commander of the banned Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit and two other terrorists were killed in two separate encounters in Jammu and Kashmir’s Srinagar and Anantnag districts on November 2, officials said.
The LeT commander, identified as Usman, was active in the valley for several years and was also involved in the killing of Inspector Masroor Wani, a senior police officer said.
This was the first encounter in Srinagar in more than two years. The last one took place in September 2022 at Nowgam. Two local terrorists of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGuH) were killed in that encounter.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on November 2 said compared to earlier times, the number of terrorist attacks has decreased significantly in Jammu and Kashmir.
Singh said security forces are vigilant in Jammu and Kashmir and terrorism would be completely eradicated from the region.
(With inputs from PTI)