Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Indian Interior Minister Rajnath Singh meets injured troops

India has said it will ensure the "complete isolation" of Pakistan after a suicide bomber killed 46 paramilitary police in Indian-administered Kashmir.

It claims to have "incontrovertible evidence" of its neighbour's involvement but has not provided it.

Pakistan denies any role in the attack by militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is based on its soil.

Thursday's bombing of the convoy was the deadliest attack on Indian forces in the region for decades.

Federal Minister Arun Jaitley said India would take "all possible diplomatic steps" to cut Pakistan off from the international community.

But a Pakistani minister has asked India to reveal their evidence, and offered to help them investigate the attack.

There has been an insurgency in Indian-administered Kashmir since the late 1980s but violence has risen in recent years.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Protests were held in Jammu after Thursday's attack

In the wake of the attack, authorities have imposed a curfew in parts of Hindu-majority Jammu city after an angry mob vandalised cars in a largely Muslim neighbourhood.

Both India and Pakistan claim all of Muslim-majority Kashmir but only control parts of it.

How will India 'punish' Pakistan?

India says that Pakistan has long given safe haven to Jaish-e-Mohammad militants and accused it of having a "direct hand" in Thursday's attack.

It has called for global sanctions against the group and for its leader, Masood Azhar, to be listed as a terrorist by the UN security council.

India has tried to do this several times in the past but was repeatedly blocked by China, an ally of Pakistan.

Mr Jaitley set out India's determination to hold Pakistan to account when speaking to reporters after attending a security meeting early on Friday.

He also confirmed that India would revoke Most Favoured Nation status from Pakistan, a special trading privilege granted in 1996.

Pakistan said it was gravely concerned by the bombing but firmly rejected allegations that it was responsible.

The country's Information Minister, Fawad Chaudry, asked India to show its evidence, and offered to help the investigation into the attack.

"This needs evidence," he told broadcaster CNN-News18. "This needs an investigation."

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a speech that those behind the attack would pay a "heavy price", leading many analysts to expect further action from Delhi.

But they say that the government's military options appear limited due to heavy snow across the region.

After a 2016 attack on an Indian army base that killed 19 soldiers, Delhi said it carried out a campaign of "surgical strikes" in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, across the de facto border. But a BBC investigation found little evidence militants had been hit.

How did the attack unfold?

The bomber used a vehicle packed with explosives to ram a convoy of 78 buses carrying Indian security forces on the heavily guarded Srinagar-Jammu highway about 20km (12 miles) from the capital, Srinagar.

The bomber is reported to be Adil Dar, a high school dropout who left home in March 2018. He is believed to be between the ages of 19 and 21.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The blast took place on a heavily guarded highway

Soon after the attack, Jaish-e-Mohammad released a video in which a young man identified as Dar spoke about what he described as atrocities against Kashmiri Muslims. He said he had joined the group in 2018 and was eventually "assigned" the task of carrying out the attack in Pulwama.

He also said that by the time the video was released he would be in jannat (heaven).

Dar is one of many young Kashmiri men who have been radicalised in recent years. On Thursday, main opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said that the number of Kashmiri men joining militancy had risen from 88 in 2016 to 191 in 2018.

India has been accused of using brutal tactics to put down protests in Kashmir - with thousands of people sustaining eye injuries from pellet guns used by security forces.

'It feels like my son is always with me'

by Arvind Chhabra, BBC News Punjabi

Image caption Kulwinder Singh was killed in the attack on Thursday

"I'm proud of my son. He has sacrificed himself for his family," says Darshan Singh, whose son, Kulwinder, died in the suicide attack in Kashmir.

Mr Singh, who lives in Rauli village in Punjab, last saw Kulwinder on 10 February, before he returned to Kashmir at the end of his vacation.

His son was 26 and planned to marry in November: "We talked of only his wedding. We had finalised the caterers and the venue."

"It feels like my son is always with me," Mr Singh says, pointing to the jacket he is wearing. It belonged to Kulwinder and has his name embroidered on it.

Darshan Singh says his son was like a friend to him and he had been waiting to see him come home with his bride. "I didn't know we would instead be waiting for his body."

What's the background?

There have been at least 10 suicide attacks since 1989 but this is only the second to use a vehicle.

Prior to Thursday's bombing, the deadliest attack on Indian security forces in Kashmir this century came in 2002, when militants killed at least 31 people at an army base in Kaluchak, near Jammu, most of them civilians and relatives of soldiers.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption In December Yogita Limaye examined why there had been a rise in violence in Kashmir

The latest attack comes amid a spike in violence in Kashmir that came about after Indian forces killed a popular militant, 22-year-old Burhan Wani, in 2016.

More than 500 people were killed in 2018 - including civilians, security forces and militants - the highest such toll in a decade.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars and a limited conflict since independence from Britain in 1947 - all but one were over Kashmir.

What is Jaish-e-Mohammad?

Started by cleric Masood Azhar in 2000, the group has been blamed for attacks on Indian soil in the past, including one in 2001 on the parliament in Delhi which took India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption Maulan Masood Azhar founded JeM in 1999

Most recently, the group was blamed for attacking an Indian air force base in 2016 near the border in Punjab state. Seven Indian security personnel and six militants were killed.

India, the UK, US and UN have all designated it a "terrorist" organisation and it has been banned in Pakistan since 2002.

But Masood Azhar remains at large and is reportedly based in Bahawalpur in Pakistan's Punjab province. India has demanded his extradition but Islamabad has refused, citing a lack of proof.

He was arrested in Srinagar in 1999 but India released him as a part of a hostage exchange after an airliner was hijacked.

How have others reacted?

Mr Gandhi and two former Indian chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir condemned the attack and expressed their condolences.

The attack has also been widely condemned around the world, including by the US and the UN Secretary General.

The White House called on Pakistan to "end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil".</s>SRINAGAR: Chronological list of all major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two decades:

* 26 August 2017 -- Three Jaish terrorists storm District Police Lines Pulwama, killing eight security force personnel, before the assailants were shot dead.

* 29 November 2016 -- Three terrorists storm Army artillery camp at Nagrota in Jammu, killing seven soldiers, before the assailants were eliminated.

* 18 September 2016 -- Four Pakistani terrorists storm an Army camp at Uri in Baramulla district, killing 18 soldiers, most of them were in sleep.

The assailants were also killed.

The incident led to reprisal surgical strikes inside Pakistan occupied Kashmir by the Indian Army.

ALSO READ | 'CRPF convoy explosion in Pulwama was heard 10 km away'

* 25 June 2016 -- Terrorists open indiscriminate firing on a CRPF bus, killing eight jawans at Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

* 3 June 2016 -- Terrorists target a CRPF bus at Pampore, killing two personnel before taking refuge in a government building.

Two-day encounter ends with the killing of three soldiers including two officers and the two assailants.

One civilian was also killed.

* 5 December 2014 -- Six heavily-armed terrorists storm an Army camp at Mohra in Uri.

Ten soldiers were killed in the gun battle with the intruders, who were all shot dead.

Eight soldiers were killed in the attack.

* 19 July 2008 -- Ten soldiers were killed when terrorists triggered an IED planted by the roadside at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway on the outskirts of the city.

* 2 November 2005 -- A suicide bomber blew up his car at Nowgam, near the private residence of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, killing three cops and six civilians.

* 20 July 2005 -- A suicide car bomber blew his vehicle by ramming it into a vehicle of security forces.

Three security force personnel and two civilians were killed.

* 24 June 2005 -- Nine army soldiers were killed in a car bomb triggered by terrorists on the outskirts of Srinagar.

* 4 August 2004 -- Nine CRPF jawans were killed in a terrorist attack on their camp at Rajbagh in Srinagar.

One terrorist was also killed in retaliatory action.

* 8 April 2004 -- 11 persons were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists on a PDP rally at Uri in Baramulla district.

The PDP was demanding the opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road.

* 22 July 2003 -- Eight soldiers, including a Brigadier, were killed in a terrorists attack on their camp at Akhnoor.

Several other senior Army officers sustained injuries in the attack.

* 28 June 2003 -- 12 soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a suicide attack by terrorists on Sunjwan Army camp.

* 14 May 2002 -- In one of the biggest strikes on an Army installation, 36 persons were killed by three terrorists who stormed the Kaluchak Army Cantonment in Jammu.

The assailants were also killed.

* 17 November 2001 -- Terrorists storm a security forces base in Ramban (then part of Doda district), killing 10 security forces.

Four terrorists were also killed.

* 1 October 2001 -- Terrorists trigger a car bomb outside the old Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar.

38 persons were killed while three assailants were also eliminated.

As the security officials assembled at the spot, they triggered a car bomb, killing 11 persons and a photojournalist.

* 19 April 2000 -- The "human bomb" was used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency.

Two soldiers were killed in the suicide car bomb at the Army headquarters at Badamibagh area in Srinagar.</s>SRINAGAR (Reuters) - A suicide car bomber rammed a bus carrying Indian police officers in Kashmir on Thursday, killing 30 of them in a major attack on security forces in the disputed region that could raise tensions with Pakistan.

The Pakistan-based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force on Jammu and Kashmir’s main highway, a local news agency said.

Kashmir is a Muslim-majority region at the heart of decades of hostility between India and Pakistan, which both claim the entire territory as theirs while ruling part of it.

India accuses Pakistan of giving material support to the militants. Islamabad says it only offers moral and diplomatic support to Muslim Kashmiris in their struggle for self-determination.

Indian forces have sporadically battled Islamist militants in mountainous Kashmir since an armed revolt in 1989 in which tens of thousands were killed, but car bombings are rare.

“I strongly condemn this dastardly attack. The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs,” Modi said in a tweet.

The last major attack was in 2016 when militants raided an Indian army camp in Uri that killed 20 soldiers. Tension with Pakistan rose after New Delhi said the attackers had come from Pakistan to stage the attack.

Thursday’s explosion was heard from several miles away, according to witnesses. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes later, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-metre stretch of the highway.

A Jaish-e-Mohammad spokesman, in a statement carried by GNS new agency, said dozens of security force vehicles were destroyed in the attack.

Jaish-e-Mohammad, one of the most powerful militant groups operating in Kashmir, was blamed for a 2001 attack on the Indian parliament that led to India deploying its military on the border with Pakistan.

On Wednesday, an explosion at a school in Kashmir wounded a dozen students. The cause of the blast remains unclear.</s>At least 42 Indian forces have been killed in a suicide attack in southern part of India-administered Kashmir, the worst such attack in two decades of Kashmir conflict.

The suspected attacker, a local rebel, rammed his explosives-laden car into a bus carrying paramilitary troopers in Lethpora village near Awantipora along a highway in Pulwama district on Thursday.

The national highway connects Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar with the region’s southern parts.

A senior official, who was not authorised to speak to the media, told Al Jazeera that at least 42 paramilitary personnel were confirmed dead in the attack and over a dozen wounded.

“The casualty in the incident is 42,” the official said, adding that it was the worst ever attack carried out by the rebels. He said car bomb attacks were rare in Kashmir.

The official said buses carrying the paramilitary troopers were returning in a convoy to Srinagar when a Scorpio car rammed into one of the buses.

“The attack happened late afternoon on Thursday. The wounded have been shifted to hospitals. We are still ascertaining the facts,” the official said.

Images from the site of the blast showed a bus completely burned as dozens of bodies lay scattered on the highway.

“There were arms and hands lying all over. I even saw the brain that had come out of a trooper’s body,” a witness told Al Jazeera.

Vijay Kumar, adviser to the governor of the state, told Al Jazeera, “Thirty-eight to 40 casualties have been caused in the incident.”

A statement issued by the Jammu and Kashmir police said 33 troopers were confirmed dead. “The exact number of casualties is being ascertained,” it said.

“It was the worst attack in 20 years,” a senior police official told Al Jazeera.

Security forces have sealed the entire area and internet services have been suspended in south Kashmir. Media persons have been barred from visiting the blast site.

Pakistan-based rebel group, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), has claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement to a local news agency.

India has condemned the attack, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi calling it “despicable” and “dastardly”. Home Minister Rajnath Singh is scheduled to visit Kashmir region on Friday to take stock of the situation.

In a statement late on Thursday night, Pakistan called the attack in “Indian Occupied Kashmir a matter of grave concern”.

“We have always condemned acts of violence anywhere in the world. We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian media and government that seek to link the attack to Pakistan without investigations,” Islamabad said.

‘Local attacker’

 Officials described Thursday’s incident as a “fidayeen” (human bomb) attack, suspected to have been carried out by 20-year-old rebel, Adil Dar, from Pulwama in southern Kashmir.

JeM released a video following the attack, in which Dar purportedly said, “By the time this video reaches you, I will be in heaven … This is my last message for the people of Kashmir.”

Dar reportedly joined the rebels in March last year when he was still in high school, officials said.

Police records accessed exclusively by Al Jazeera said he used to work in a bandsaw workshop, where he used to make wooden boxes. He is described as “not [an]orthodox” Muslim, who did not “offer prayers regularly”.

Dar went missing on March 19 last year. “On that day, he came to his house for having lunch and went back to work, but he did not reach the said place… [and instead]joined militancy,” police records said.

When his whereabouts were not known and he “kept his phone switched off”, the family lodged a complaint with the police on March 23, 2018, according to officials.

Dar’s father, Ghulam Hassan Dar, told Al Jazeera he saw his son “only once after he picked up the gun”.

“In this war, people from both sides die. This politics is being played by leaders. Everyone should rather ask the question why the youth are picking up guns, and that should be addressed,” Dar said from his home in Pulwama’s Gundibagh village.

Kashmiri rebels first introduced the “fidayeen” squad in 1999 in the immediate aftermath of a low-intensity war between India and Pakistan in the Himalayan region of Kargil.

Most of the “fidayeen” attacks have been carried out by foreign attackers affiliated with two Pakistan-based outfits, JeM and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), with fewer Kashmiri rebels participating in such raids.

The suicide attacks carried out by “fidayeen” squads against India establishments have worsened India’s frosty relations with its neighbour and rival, Pakistan.

It has been several years since Kashmiri rebels began “fidayeen” attacks, which Indian security officials say are “difficult to prevent as attackers intend to kill and get killed”.

In January last year, two local rebels carried out a similar raid at a military base in the same village at Lethpora, which was claimed by the JeM.

Police had then identified the two rebels as 16-year-old Fardeen Ahmad Khanday and 24-year-old Manzoor Ahmad Baba, both residents of Pulwama.

‘Felt like an earthquake’

 A Kashmiri local who was standing at a distance from the site of the Thursday blast said it “felt like an earthquake” had hit the area.

“I felt everything shaking for a moment, then there was smoke. I felt my body was moving and the earth beneath my feet was opening up. It was a very powerful explosion,” the 45-year-old resident, who refused to be identified, told Al Jazeera.

“I walked a little near the spot and there were body parts lying everywhere. It was a bloody scene,” he said.

Another resident Shameema Ashraf, who lives in Lethpora, said there was chaos everywhere. “We were sitting inside our home. We only heard the explosion but did not know what had happened.”

Districts in the southern Kashmir region have remained restive since the killing of the young rebel commander Burhan Wani in 2016.

The highest number of gun battles in the disputed Kashmir region have taken place in these districts, where the rebels have also suffered the highest casualties.

Last year was also Kashmir’s bloodiest since 2009. According to rights group Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society, 528 people were killed in 2018, including 145 civilians.

Thursday’s attack also came at a time when India is preparing for parliamentary elections due in two months.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is one of the world’s most militarised regions. A majority of residents here support the rebels in their fight against the Indian security forces.

Rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for India-administered Kashmir to either become independent or merge with Pakistan. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.</s>At least 39 CRPF personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Thursday when a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the bus they were travelling in. Here is a chronological list of all major terror attacks on security forces in Jammu and Kashmir in the last two decades.



26 August 2017 -- Three Jaish terrorists storm District Police Lines Pulwama, killing eight security force personnel, before the assailants were shot dead.

29 November 2016 -- Three terrorists storm Army artillery camp at Nagrota in Jammu, killing seven soldiers, before the assailants were eliminated.

18 September 2016 -- Four storm an Army camp at Uri in Baramulla district, killing 18 soldiers, most of them were in sleep. The assailants were also killed. The incident led to reprisal surgical strikes inside the Pakistan occupied Kashmir by Indian Army.

 



ALSO READ: Sacrifices of security personnel won't go in vain: Modi on Pulwama attack

25 June 2016 -- Terrorists open indiscriminate firing on a CRPF bus, killing eight jawans at Pampore on Srinagar-Jammu Highway.

3 June 2016 -- Terrorists target a CRPF bus at Pampore, killing two personnel before taking refuge in a government building. Two-day encounter ends with killing of three soldiers including two officers and the two assailants. One civilian was also killed.

5 December 2014 -- Six heavily-armed terrorists storm an Army camp at Mohra in Uri. Ten soldiers were killed in the gun battle with the intruders, who were all shot dead.

24 June 2013 -- Terrorists ambush a bus carrying unarmed Army personnel at Hyderpora in Eight soldiers were killed in the attack.

19 July 2008 -- Ten soldiers were killed when terrorists triggered an IED planted by the roadside at Narbal on Srinagar-Baramulla highway on the outskirts of the city.

 



ALSO READ: 30 CRPF personnel killed in J&K's Pulwama as Jaish militants attack convoy

2 November 2005 -- A suicide bomber blew up his car at Nowgam, near the private residence of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, killing three cops and six civilians.

20 July 2005 -- A suicide car bomber blew his vehicle by ramming it into a vehicle of security forces. Three security force personnel and two civilians were killed.

24 June 2005 -- Nine army soldiers were killed in a car bomb triggered by terrorists on the outskirts of

4 August 2004 -- Nine were killed in a terrorist attack on their camp at Rajbagh in One terrorist was also killed in retaliatory action.

 



ALSO READ: Rajnath speaks to J&K governor after Pulwama attack; likely to visit state

8 April 2004 -- 11 persons were killed in a grenade attack by terrorists on a PDP rally at Uri in Baramulla district. The PDP was demanding opening of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad Road.

22 July 2003 -- Eight soldiers, including a Brigadier, were killed in a terrorists attack on their camp at Akhnoor. Several other senior Army officers sustained injuries in the attack.

28 June 2003 -- 12 soldiers, including an officer, were killed in a suicide attack by terrorists on Sunjwan Army camp. Two terrorists were neutralised.

14 May 2002 -- In one of the biggest strikes on an Army installation, 36 persons were killed by three terrorists who stormed the Kaluchak Army Cantonment in Jammu. The assailants were also killed.

17 November 2001 -- Terrorists storm a security forces base in Ramban (then part of Doda district), killing 10 security forces. Four terrorists were also killed.

 



ALSO READ: 838 terrorists, 183 civilians killed in Jammu and Kashmir since 2014: Govt

1 October 2001 -- Terrorists trigger a car bomb outside the old Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar. 38 persons were killed while three assailants were also eliminated.

10 August 2000 -- Terrorists hurl a grenade at Residency Road in Srinagar. As the security officials assembled at the spot, they triggered a car bomb, killing 11 persons and a photojournalist.

19 April 2000 -- The "human bomb" was used for the first time in Kashmir insurgency. Two soldiers were killed in the suicide car bomb at the Army headquarters at Badamibagh area in Srinagar.</s>My heart bleeds for the brave CRPF jawans who made the supreme their motherland. I have seen them work in the most challenging conditions. My life was saved by a CRPF jawan in 2010. I do not want to recall the unfortunate incident when a jawan took a hand grenade on his body 100 meters from my vehicle. It is out of gratitude that I always hold them in highest respect. To confess, my hands are shivering in grief as I write this piece.

The dastardly attack has taken the life of 44 of our brave jawans. My heartfelt condolences goes to the family of these bravehearts, with the promise that the nation stands with them in this hour of grief. My only concern is that this promise is not betrayed in the long bureaucratic cobweb of procedures and political mongering and manipulation. The dues under the latest pension scheme and other reliefs should reach the families of brave hearts without any delay.

Condemning the attack as cowardly or dastardly is one thing, my refrain once again is that utmost priority should be accorded to sending the relief to the kin of the bravehearts. In this context, I have seen in many cases the after initial condemnation I have seen families running around in North Block chasing their dues and brokers entering in the entire process promising expeditious processing and pocketing their fees or commissions. It happened in my time as a government servant. I am sure it won't happen now.

Besides, there is a need to conduct a diagnosis of what went wrong. How did the perpetrators succeed? Jaish-e-Mohammad, which as per reports has claimed responsibility, has certainly triggered their sleeper cell.

But the question arises is if it a case of intelligence failure. I do not think so. It has been reported that intelligence was shared about three days back with the Jammu and Kashmir government. Further, a car being fitted with IED to be blasted by remote control would have surely come to the notice of our intelligence agencies. Our intelligence officers are smart enough to have noticed. Then where did the lapse occur?

Another vital factor which agitates me is that information on the movement of such convoys are not publicly known. The Jammu and Kashmir Police is informed for operational and coordination reasons. There is no other source with which such movements are shared. Then why did local police not sanitise the route?

Another vital factor is the resurgence of the Jaish-e-Mohammad in Jammu and Kashmir. Surely, this would have caught the eye of the intelligence agencies. As per laid down procedure, this would have been shared with the Jammu and Kashmir Police, especially with IG (CID). How then was this group permitted to resurge?

In this connection, my experience with Jammu and Kashmir Police is not very pleasant. In 2010, as an official in the Home Ministry, I had shared a list of properties of prominent separatist leaders of Jammu and Kashmir. But nothing came of it. However, this was acted upon only by NIA in 2017 by raiding these properties.

Apart from this prominent example, we have repeatedly shared intelligence with Jammu and Kashmir Police, with their headquarters, their IG (CID), but they were generally found to be not very fleet-footed in their countermeasures to pre-empt or prevent such evil designs - on several instances I have said about money being routed and such other vital instances.

Even the fidayeens travelling with Javed Shiekh and Ishrat Jahan, namely Amjad and Zeeshan, had reportedly been let off by Jammu and Kashmir Police. We had even shared the input on possible public outrage being fostered by ISI with Jammu and Kashmir Police on 3/6/2010, and the stone pelting by the public which is evidently funded from the other side of the LoC.

Other recent instances may also be recalled. Take the case of Major Leetul Gogoi. He had tied a stone-pelter to save his team members from being injured. The whole human rights lobby went gaga over it.

Later on, he was framed in a case in which he was allegedly found with a local girl in a hotel. I do not want to go into details, but people may corroborate that at the very instance I had said that he was being framed by the Inspector General of Srinagar, who had come out to the media on this story is the same person named in my book of having engineered the false narrative of 'Hindu terror'.

Later, Major Aditya's case an FIR was registered. Hence the Jammu and Kashmir police requires to be vetted about many of its officers not toeing the Central government line. Politicians playing their own agenda may be acceptable, although I subscribe to the view that any proposal which challenges the idea of India is not acceptable.

How about the local population? I am always intrigued by one paradoxical factor. The population in the Valley between 1991 to 2001 showed a growth. This is as per Planning Commission document. During this period, there was mass migration and also lot many killings which occurred. Hence, is it a case that some of the infiltrators are being accommodated and given residency documents. This question needs an answer.

Further, if you go to any kasba in the Valley, in the central market place you can find youth assembling in the evening. Try listening to their general talk. There is more Urdu than Kashmiri in their talk. Does it mean that the Valley has been taken over by Pakistani jihadis? I do not know. But the nation needs an answer?

The last answer needs to come from UN Human Rights Commission. The report has highlighted Burhan Wani's killing, thanks reliance on reports of civil society groups, and tarnished the J&K Public Safety Act and Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) as structures obstructing the normal course of law. The report had further highlighted the reluctance of grant of prosecution sanction against security personnel under the Act. In case it had happened the other way round, if security forces had killed 26 terrorists, the author of the report would have repeated the charge of AFSPA being draconian and sanction not being granted. Will the author of the return to life the 44 martyred men? Else, let the author confess the he was either professionally wrong or his integrity was compromised by organisation like JeM which is an ancillary of Lashkar, a designated terror organisation under UNSCR 1267 list.

Actually, I again confess I am seeking answers for the above questions with a heavy heart. One among these jawans had saved my life. In our Hindu belief, we call saviours as 'nath' or 'bhagwan'. With heavy heart I say today we lost 44 of our bhagwans.</s>The attack was one of the the biggest on Indian security forces in Kashmir

A militant attack on a convoy of vehicles carrying paramilitary soldiers of the Indian Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has killed at least 40 personnel and injured dozens.

Thirteen of the injured are believed to be in critical condition.

According to police, an SUV car laden with approximately 350kg of explosives rammed into the bus carrying 39 members of the 76 Battalion of CRPF at 3.15pm.

The bus was part of a 70-vehicle convoy carrying more than 2,500 security personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.

The attack happened on the highway in Pulwama district about 12 miles from the state capital Srinagar.

Speaking to reporters, inspector general of police SP Pani said: "We are investigating the nature of the explosion.

"There has been a number of casualties and the injured have been taken to hospital.

"We are combing the site and we are investigating the bomb attack."

Pictures from the attack site show the 55-seater bus reduced to a mangled heap of metal.

Pakistan-based terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammad has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement to a local news service, the terror group claims the bomb laden vehicle was driven by Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando.

Members of the Jaish-e-Mohammad are allegedly involved in a number of attacks in Indian administered Kashmir, including the Pathankot Air base attack in 2016 in which seven soldiers were killed.

The organisation has been designated a terror group by the United States, Britain, Russia, Pakistan and a number of other western countries.

K.Vijay Kumar, adviser to the governor of Jammu and Kashmir, said: "We are still trying to confirm if a foreign terrorist is involved in the attack, we are verifying the claims put out by Jaish-e-Mohammad."

He added: "We have killed more than 250 militants including 19 commanders of various terror organisations since last year and we will keep doing so."

Home minister Rajnath Singh said: "The attack was carried out by Pakistan backed Jaish e Mohammed. A strong reply will be given and I assure the people of the country this."

The foreign ministry said it was "firmly and resolutely committed to take all necessary measures to safeguard national security".

It also called for Pakistan to "stop supporting terrorists and terror groups operating from their territory".

Vice President of India, Venkaiah Naidu, said he was "shocked by the dastardly terrorist attack in which CRPF personnel were martyred.

"My heartfelt condolences to bereaved families and prayers for speedy recovery of the injured."

This has been one of the biggest attacks on Indian security forces in Kashmir.

In September 2016, a pre-dawn militant attack on the brigade headquarters of the Indian Army in Uri led to the deaths of 23 soldiers.

India blamed militants from Jaish-e-Mohammad for the attack.

In retaliation, India conducted surgical strikes 11 days later on what it termed as "launch pads" used by militants in Pakistan administrated Kashmir.</s>All civilian movement to be stopped on J-K highway when security forces' convoy passing: HM

Srinagar, Feb 15: Amid major debate over how the JeM terrorist, who carried out the devastating attacking on Thursday, entered the Jammu Srinagar Highway when CRPF convoy was passing, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said that from now on 'civilian movement will be stopped' on the highway when convoys of security forces are passing.

Questions are being asked if the attack could have been averted had there not been movement of civilian vehicles on the road at the time the convoy was passing. The Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group had claimed said that their terrorist rammed a car laden with explosives into the CRPF bus. The left around 40 jawans dead.

"In the wake of suicide attack on CRPF convoy yesterday, it has been decided that the civilian movement will be stopped for sometime when a large convoy of security forces passes through an area. Civilians will face a little difficulty, we apologise for it," the Home Minister, who is in Srinagar today, told media.

["Please sanitise area properly IEDs will be used," an intel warning that fell on deaf ears]

"I have requested state governments to extend the maximum help they can lend to the bereaved families. I've given all the necessary directions to the officers. The morale has not taken a hit. We will see this fight against terrorism to the end," he added.

An officer earlier told OneIndia that in the 1990s the movement of civilian vehicles along the highway was not allowed when the Army convoy was passing. This was done to sanitise the area and ensure that the convoys move under high security. However, in the late 1990s, the convoys came under attack by terrorists, failing which it was decided to change the strategy.

It was felt that allowing civilian vehicles to move when the convoys were passing would be better for the security of the Army personnel. Terrorists in Kashmir normally refrain from attacking civilians and hence it was decided that the convoys would be safer if the movement of civilian vehicles was allowed at the same time. Officials say that it is extremely difficult manning the highway. There is a particular stretch of 35 kilometres between Bijbehera town and Pampore on the Srinagar. The highway is an important one and it is extremely difficult to shut it down when a convoy passes, the officer also explained.

[China again declines to back India's request on JeM Chief Masood Azhar]

This 35 kilometre stretch falls on the Srinagar-Jammu highway and terrorists have often targeted the forces on this route. This has been raised at several meetings and it was decided to install CCTVs at several locations. However this exercise has not been entirely effective as many areas are still not covered. In addition to this many CCTVs were not working as well, a senior officer informed OneIndia.

The decision to spruce up security along the highway was taken after the year 2017 witnessed several attacks on convoys travelling along the highway. Further it was also decided that when the convoy travels, no civilian vehicles would be allow to enter in between. Despite these measures being taken, a suicide bomber of the Jaish-e-Mohammad rammed his explosive laden vehicle into a bus carrying the CRPF jawans. Officials say that this attack calls for several course correction measures. We need to closely look into the routes that the terrorists use. For instance terrorists have crossed over through the Jhelum river and attacked convoys along the same routes.</s>A suicide bomber driving a car packed with explosives rammed a bus carrying Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) troops, part of a large paramilitary convoy, on the Jammu-Srinagar highway on Thursday, was feared to have killed at least44 men while reducing the vehicle to a mangled heap of metal, in the deadliest terror attack in three decades of insurgency — one, which many experts said, would evoke a strong response from India.

At least 20 more were injured in the attack in the Awantipora area of Pulwama district. Terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which Indian authorities say is backed by Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack that took place in Lethpora, about 30 km from Srinagar. While the police put the official death toll at 33, security officials in Srinagar and New Delhi said at least 44 people had died.

Jaish said the suicide bombing was carried out by a local militant whom it identified as Adil Ahmad Dar of Pulwama.He joined the Jaish in 2018, PTI cited unnamed officials as saying. The Jaish claimed in a statement that the vehicle was carrying 350 kg of explosives, which Indian authorities did not confirm.

“Attack on CRPF personnel in Pulwama is despicable. I strongly condemn this dastardly attack,” PM Narendra Modi said in a statement as political parties denounced the attack in unison. “Sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain. The entire nation stands shoulder to shoulder with the families of the brave martyrs. May the injured recover quickly.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi wrote on Twitter: “I’m deeply disturbed by the cowardly attack on a #CRPF convoy in J&K in which many of our brave CRPF men have been martyred and a large number wounded, some critically.” In a tweet, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala charged the Modi government with compromising national security and said terror attacks had taken place unabated under it.

The attack may ratchet up tensions between India and Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik said the fact that Jaish owned up to carrying out the attack indicated that Pakistan may have had a hand in it. Minister of state in the Prime Minister’s Office, Jitender Singh, told television channels that the attack had led to a “war- like” situation.

“This is a bigger attack than Uri. Unlike the Uri attack, a Pakistan-based terror group has claimed responsibility There will be much more pressure on Pakistan, but my hunch is, because a Pakistan-based group has claimed responsibility, New Delhi too, will have to act. The form and shape of the retaliation will be the government’s prerogative,” said General DS Hooda, former Northern Army commander.

The ministry of external affairs, while condemning the “heinous and despicable act perpetrated by Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan-based and supported terrorist organisation proscribed by the United Nations and other countries” called for its chief Masood Azhar to be listed as a designated terrorist under the sanctions committee of the UN Security Council.

The security establishments at the Centre and in the state, which is under federal rule, were huddled in meetings to take stock of the situation following the attack that precedes general elections, likely to be held simultaneously with state elections, in the spring of 2019. National security adviser Ajit Doval was monitoring the situation and senior CRPF officials were briefing him.

The Cabinet committee on security affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister, is to meet on Friday to decide on and articulate India’s response. Home minister Rajnath Singh will be visiting Srinagar on Friday to assess the situation.

Thursday’s attack was the deadliest since insurgency broke out in Jammu and Kashmir in 1989. In the previous worst terror strike, 38 people were killed in a car bomb attack in Srinagar near the legislative assembly in October 2001.

In September 2016, four terrorists attacked an Indian Army brigade headquarters in Uri, near the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, killing 19 army personnel.That attack was the spark for a retaliatory surgical strike on terrorist camps across the LoC by Indian forces just days later.

Near the town of Kaluchak in 2002, three militants attacked a tourist bus from Himachal Pradesh and killed seven people after which they raided the nearby army family quarters and shot 23 people to death — 10 children, eight women and five soldiers.

According to some accounts, in Thursday’s attack, the driver of the car positioned himself in the opposite direction on a lane next to the one on which the CRPF convoy was travelling on, and swerved and rammed the CRPF bus when he noticed the unarmoured vehicle.

CRPF’s inspector general (operations) Zulfiqar Hassan said the Jammu and Kashmir police had taken over the investigation of the terror attack “There were around 78 vehicles in the convoy and one of the vehicles came under attack. The convoy was on its way from Jammu to Srinagar,” he said.

The CRPF convoy of around 2,500 troopers left the Channi Rama transit camp in Jammu around 3:30am and was headed to the Bakshi Stadium camp in Srinagar when the vehicle was attacked, said Jammu-based CRPF spokesman Ashish Kumar Jha. From Bakshi Stadium, they were to have travelled to their respective camps.

Over the past week, no CRPF envoy had been able to travel on the highway because it had been blocked by snow, Jha said. “Therefore, the number of the CRPF jawans [in the convoy] swelled. The incident happened around 3.15pm,” he said.

When asked if there had been a security lapse, he said, “A thorough probe will be conducted but such a large convoy is visible from a distance itself. CRPF jawans belonged to different battalions. Points of halt and resuming journey of such convoys are always fixed”.

International governments, and national and regional political parties condemned the attack.

“The U.S. Mission in India strongly condemns today’s terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. The United States stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it,” the US ambassador to India Ken Juster tweeted.

The French government also “condemned in the strongest terms the vile attack” that struck India. Sri Lanka and Maldives, too, expressed support after Thursday’s attack.

In a message, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina said: “Bangladesh remains steadfast in its commitment against terrorism of all forms and manifestations and maintains a zero tolerance policy against any kind of terrorist activities.”

Home minister Rajnath Singh said: “Today’s dastardly attack on CRPF in Pulwama is extremely painful and disturbing. I bow to each and every CRPF jawan who has sacrificed his life in service to the nation. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

His colleague Arun Jaitley tweeted: “Terrorists will be given an unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.”

Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s sister , Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who joined active politics last month,said in Lucknow: “We demand that this government take concrete steps to ensure such terror attacks don’t happen in the future.”

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said the attack was reminiscent of pre-2004 days in the Valley. “Jaish has claimed the blast as a suicide [fidaeen] attack reminiscent of the dark days of militancy pre-2004-05,” Abdullah wrote on Twitter, adding, “I condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms. My prayers for the injured & condolences to the families of the bereaved.”

Peoples Democratic Party chief and former J&K chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said: “No words are enough to condemn the gruesome terror attack. How many more lives will be snuffed out before this madness ends?”</s>NEW DELHI: The US on Thursday condemned the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district and said it stands alongside India in defeating terrorism.

In one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir's three decades of militancy, a Jaish suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a CRPF bus in Pulwama district, killing at least 39 personnel and leaving many critically wounded.

"The US Mission in India strongly condemns today's terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir. We send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims," US Ambassador to India Kenneth Juster tweeted.

The US stands alongside India in confronting terror and defeating it, he said.

More than 2,500 Central Reserve Police Force personnel, many of them returning from leave to rejoin duty in the Valley, were travelling in the convoy of 78 vehicles when they were ambushed on the Srinagar-Jammu highway at Latoomode in Awantipora in south Kashmir around 3.15 pm.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed terror group has claimed responsibility for the attack that took place about 20 km from Srinagar.
At least 46 members of India's security forces are killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up as a convoy of military vehicles drove on a highway in Jammu and Kashmir.