SRINAGAR: At least 18 Indian soldiers were killed and more than 20 injured in a bomb attack on a paramilitary convoy in India-occupied Kashmir, ARY News reported Thursday.
According to reports, one of the vehicles carrying soldiers was completely destroyed in the attack, while five other cars in the convoy of Indian forces were badly damaged.
The injured persons were moved to a nearby hospital.
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Agencies add: Central Reserve Police Force Director General Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar told Indian news agency, ANI, that there were around 2,500 personnel in the convoy when the attack took place.
While another senior police officer Muneer Ahmed Khan said the attack occurred as the convoy reached Pampore on the outskirts of the disputed region’s main city of Srinagar. He said one bus was destroyed and at least five other vehicles were damaged by the blast.
Khan said soldiers and counterinsurgency police reinforcements were deployed in the area and the injured were evacuated to hospitals.
Also read: A timeline of Indian atrocities in Kashmir in the year 2018
Most Kashmiris support the freedom fighters demand that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.
India maintains roughly 500,000 soldiers and regularly cracks down on citizens, firing tear gas and pellet guns at demonstrators seeking freedom from Indian rule in the occupied valley.
Reports say about 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian crackdown.
