Srinagar, Feb 18: Security forces on Tuesday detected and destroyed suspected Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in Shopian and Pulwama districts of southern Kashmir.
Army officials reported that a joint police-army patrol detected a pressure cooker IED planted by terrorists on a link road at Chitragam in Zainapora, Shopian. A bomb disposal squad neutralised the device, preventing any harm to civilians or security forces.
In a separate operation in Pulwama, security forces, acting on specific intelligence, located and destroyed another IED in Nagbari, Tral. The device was found in a pressure cooker along the roadside.
An army spokesman emphasized that the timely detections thwarted major terror incidents. “Indian Army remains committed to keeping Kashmir terror-free,” he said.
A senior security official stated that planting IEDs along roadsides and buildings remains a significant challenge, though security agencies have successfully defused many. The official highlighted a decrease in IED incidents over the past three years, with only eight IEDs recovered in 2024.
“It is still a challenge and we are working on a strategy to avert these incidents in future and our bomb squads are well trained to diffuse them within a short period of time,” he added.
The official said foreign terrorists are mostly trained for making IED’s and after finding a safer hiding place, OWG’s are being used to assemble explosives.
In 2019, Kashmir witnessed the deadliest IED attack in which at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed after a suicide bomber rammed an IED-laden vehicle into a security convoy in Pulwama.
