A soldier was killed and three others were injured in an IED explosion triggered by militants at Kulgam in south Kashmir on Wednesday.
The explosion took place around 10.15 a.m. inside a school in the Shamshipura area when a road opening party of the Army was carrying out a sanitisation drill. “Four soldiers sustained injuries. They were evacuated to the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar,” an Army spokesman said. One of them died of injuries.
The police said a rudimentary improvised explosive device, with a low-powered explosive and ball bearings, “was planted inside the premises”.
“The personnel of the Army’s 24 RR would come and use the verandah of the building regularly for various purposes. The IED was most probably planted during the night before the incident. It is evident that the attack was planned in advance after observing troop movement for a sustained period of time,” Inspector-General of Police Vijay Kumar said. This is the first major attack by militants in Kashmir this year.