More than 44 Indian soldiers have been killed and many more injured in the deadliest attack in Kashmir in two decades. Key points: A convoy of paramilitary police was rammed by an explosives-laden jeep A convoy of paramilitary police was rammed by an explosives-laden jeep India blamed Pakistan but it denied any involvement in the attack India blamed Pakistan but it denied any involvement in the attack Islamist group aligned to Al Qaeda and Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility A suicide car bomb struck a convoy of police vehicles about 20 kilometres from the capital, Srinagar. Eyewitness video of the aftermath of the attack showed the smouldering, mangled wreck of a vehicle and bodies strewn across the road. Loading "There was a terror incident," the Inspector General of India's Central Reserve Police Force Zulfiqar Hassan said at the site of the blast. "We have suffered damage to the vehicles as well as to the men," he said. Busloads full of members of the paramilitary police force had been travelling in convoy when a jeep laden with explosives rammed one of the vehicles and detonated. An Islamist group called Jaish-e-Mohammad, which is aligned to Al Qaeda and the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility. India blamed Pakistan, but it denied any involvement. Unrest among majority-Muslim population At least 44 paramilitary soldiers have been killed and many more injured. It was the deadliest attack in 20 years in the world's largest and most militarised territorial dispute. There were swift calls for retribution. "Those who are behind this should not be spared," defence expert and retired colonel PK Sehgal said. "The Government should give a befitting reply to Pakistan to showcase our strength." Loading Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condemnation of the attack and said the troops' lives would not be lost in vain. In 2016, 17 Indian troops were killed when militants stormed a brigade headquarters near the contested Line of Control. While border skirmishes are common, this attack happened just 20 kilometres from Srinagar. Kashmir is divided between Indian and Pakistani rule but both countries claim the Himalayan territory in full. India currently has half a million troops stationed there. This latest incident is expected to stoke unrest among the area's majority-Muslim population. Hundreds killed in recent years Police and medics say at least 25 high school students have been injured by an explosion in their classroom. ( AP: Dar Yasin Overnight, there were videos posted on social media showing civilians opposed to India's presence in Kashmir celebrating the attack by lighting fireworks in the streets. With India just months out from an election, members of the Opposition have blamed the Government for not doing enough to thwart Islamist militants in Kashmir. Some in the ruling party blame some Kashmiri politicians for sympathising with the militant movement. A spike in violence in recent years has seen hundreds of civilians, security personnel and militants killed. The day before this latest attack, 25 Kashmiri high school students were injured in a bomb blast in their classroom. In the wake of the attack, India's Information Ministry issued a warning to broadcasters not to show any content that "promotes anti-national attitudes".<doc-sep>At least 44 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in the deadliest attack on government forces there since 2002. The suicide bombing outside Srinagar claimed by an Islamist group is likely to ratchet up tensions between nuclear-armed arch rivals India and Pakistan, with New Delhi long accusing Islamabad of supporting militants. “The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not go in vain,” Indian Prime Minister Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, calling the attack “despicable”. The attack saw explosives packed inside a van rip through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). Two blue buses carrying around 35 people each bore the brunt of the massive blast, heard miles away, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the city of Srinagar on the main highway to Jammu. The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported that at least 39 people were dead, while other press reports said the number could exceed 40. Some of the bodies were so badly blown up that officials feel it may take some time to identity them, PTI reported. The convoy was bringing the troopers back from leave to rejoin active service.<doc-sep>Gain a global perspective on the US and go beyond with curated news and analysis from 600 journalists in 50+ countries covering politics, business, innovation, trends and more.<doc-sep>
Kashmir’s Police Chief says Central Reserve Police Force had suffered major damage/ file photo SRINAGAR: At least 44 Indian soldiers were killed and dozens injured in Indian Occupied Kashmir on Thursday in the deadliest attack on Indian forces in over a decade, reported Kashmir Media Service. The attack took place at the Srinagar-Jammu Highway in Awantipora area of Pulwama district. The soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off as a convoy of military vehicles drove by, some 20 kilometres from the main city of Srinagar. "An IED went off as a CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) convoy passed by," senior police officer Munir Ahmed Khan told news agency AFP. CRPF spokesman Sanjay Kumar said that the explosives were inside a car, while local media reports said the explosive-laden vehicle was driven into the convoy. "It was a powerful explosion. The explosive was car-borne," Kumar told AFP. The explosion was heard from several kilometres away. Mohammad Yunis, a journalist who reached the site minutes after the explosion, told Reuters he saw blood and body parts scattered along a 100-metre stretch on the highway. Kashmir's Police Chief S.P. Pani said the CRPF had suffered major damage. "It is a terror incident and we are looking into the possibility of what led to the blast. We are going to go for post blast investigation," he said. The seriously wounded were shifted to Indian army’s 92 base hospital in Srinagar, KMS reported earlier. Thursday's attack was the deadliest on Indian forces in IoK in more than a decade. In September 2016, 19 Indian soldiers were killed in a pre-dawn attack on the Uri army camp. In May 2002, 34 people were killed at an Indian army camp in Kaluchak in Jammu city. Indian Occupied Kashmir has been plagued by violence for years, with clashes between Indian forces and freedom fighters killing more than 100 civilians over the past year.