The incident that took place on 14^th February 2019 in India’s J&K will go down as one of the country’s tragic events. There was a suicide car bomb attack on India’s CRPF convoy, which led to 40 security persons losing their lives. In fact, the explosion was so loud that the sounds could be heard by people who were standing 10-20 km away from the accident’s site – including the state’s Pulwama district’s Awantipora region that lies 20 km away from Srinagar, along with other parts of Srinagar that are situated near Pulwama district.

The terrorist who perpetrated the attack was Adil Ahmad; his body was found on the Jammu Srinagar. Also, the bodies of India’s CRPF personnel were strewn around the roadway. Sadly, some of the bodies were ripped apart due to which identifying the martyred soldiers by the officials could take longer.

The suicide striker was driving an SUV that was laden with more than 100 kgs of explosives. He rammed his explosive-laden car into a convoy that was carrying over 2500 CRPF personnel; several of them were rejoining duty in the Valley post taking leave. The convoy was of 78 vehicles, and the suicide bomber’s car crashed into a bus that had around 40 jawans aboard.

The bystanders started running away from the site and towards safer areas, after they heard the loud explosion. Also, at Lethpora market that is less than 300 meters from the incident spot, there were scenes of shopkeepers downing their shutters and fleeing.

The attack site was near Lethpora’s Commando Training Centre that was struck by Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Group on December 31, 2017; the tragedy left 5 CRPF persons dead.

Indeed, the country witnessed such a car bomb attack in Kashmir only after the 2001 strike on the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly where 41 people, in addition to three suicide attackers, lost their lives.

Besides, in the past, there have been numerous terrorist attacks on India’s security personnel along the Jammu-Srinagar Highway.

In June 2016, at Pampore that is less than seven kilometers away from Lethpora, the CRPK were attacked, killing 8 jawans and injuring 22 others.

Also, the terrorists had hit a CRPF convoy in Pampore area during February 2016; after the attack, the terrorists hid in a government building. For over 2 days, the Armymen tried to flush out the attackers; and in the end, a total of 9 people were left dead – including 3 ultras and 3 Army personnel.

Leaders around the world have condemned this attack on India’s soil. Also, Indian authorities are contemplating action against the state of Pakistan because they are believed to have initiated the terrorist act. As an initial step to put pressure on Pakistan for withdrawing their support to terrorist activities, India has revoked Pakistan’s ‘Most Preferred Nation’ status. Also, the Government of India has given the Armed forces a free hand to avenge the killing of the country’s soldiers.