Explosives seized by Kashmir police detonate: nine dead and dozens injured
The Nowgam barracks in Srinagar has been devastated. According to the authorities, it was an accident. But the incident comes amid an already tense climate following the attacks on the Red Fort in Delhi and Islamabad. And recent operations against militant cells in Jammu and Kashmir.
Rome (AsiaNews/Agencies) - ‘Accidental explosion’. This is how the director general of police of the federal region of Jammu and Kashmir, on the border with Pakistan, described last night's violent explosion at the Nowgam police station in Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir, during a press conference.
Nine people were killed and at least 32 injured after a pile of confiscated explosives detonated while personnel were analysing it. The tragedy comes just days after an attack near the historic Red Fort complex in Delhi, in which a car bomb killed 13 people.
Among the victims of the explosion, which occurred late yesterday evening, Friday 14 November, were police officers, government officials and forensic personnel. Investigations are underway to determine the actual causes and extent of the damage. Director General Nalin Prabhat stresses that “any further speculation on the cause of this incident is unnecessary”.
This statement attempts to steer explanations of the incident away from terrorism, which has been the focus of investigations into the Delhi explosion.
The latest in a series of Hyundai i20 owners detonated was originally from Pulwama, in Jammu and Kashmir, a region known for its instability and high number of attacks, such as the one last April in Pahalgam, in which more than 20 Indian tourists died.
The bodies of the victims are currently being identified, as some are completely charred, according to police sources quoted by Reuters. ‘The intensity of the explosion was such that some human remains were recovered from nearby houses, about 100-200 metres from the police station,’ they report.
The explosion engulfed the building in flames, as well as several vehicles parked nearby, with small explosions following the main one. Firefighters rushed to the scene to put out the fire and restore safety.
The explosion at the Red Fort on Tuesday 11 November, described by the Indian authorities as a ‘brutal terrorist incident’ carried out by ‘groups with international links’, comes after the Kashmir police dismantled a suspected militant cell in Kashmir.
It was followed by a string of arrests, where investigations had been conducted in recent days. Large quantities of bomb-making materials were seized in Faridabad and stored at the Nowgam police station.
The situation in the disputed region is exacerbated by international friction with Pakistan: the investigation into the cell began last month after posters supporting the Pakistan-backed armed terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammad appeared in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir.
The investigation that began last month led to seven arrests, including two prominent Kashmiri doctors working in other Indian states. In one of the raids in Haryana, police said they discovered 2,900 kg of explosive materials, as well as chemicals, detonators and weapons.
No one has claimed responsibility for the explosion near the Red Fort, but Indian police speak of an “ecosystem” of “radicalised” professionals with contacts in Pakistan and other countries.
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