As many as 26 BSF personnel were also wounded, some of them critically, in the explosion carried out by the Hizbul Mujahideen. The bombing came barely few hours ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s arrival here to chair the second round-table conference besides reviewing the political, security and economic situation in the state.
A BSF spokesman told UNI that the suicide bomber rammed his Maruti car into the vehicle carrying about 40-45 personnel at Peerbagh on the heavily-guarded Srinagar-Airport road at 6.55 this evening.
He said 26 BSF personnel were wounded, some of them critically, in the attack. The injured have been admitted to the Army’s 92 Base Camp hospital in the Badami Bagh Cantonment area here.
The men were on their way to the BSF’s Subsidiary Training Centre (STC) at Humhama on the city outskirts in the 52-seater vehicle, bearing registration number HR55D-3945, when the fidayeen drove his white Maruti car into it at Peerbagh in the uptown city, the spokesman added.
However, unconfirmed sources said two BSF men and the suicide bomber were killed besides 25 others wounded in the explosion.
A person, identifying himself as Ehsan Ilahi, a Hizb spokesman, called the local media here to claim the responsibility of the fidayeen attack.
Earlier on Sunday, fidayeen attacked a Congress rally here, killing at least three civilians and two policemen besides wounding 30 others, including Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir K Rajendra Kumar.
The two fidayeen were also killed in the two-hour-long gunfight that erupted at the public meeting organised by the state Congress to mark the 15th death anniversary of late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi at the Sher-e-Kashmir Municipal Park here on May 21.
The responsibility of the attack was claimed by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and Al Mansoorian militant outfits. —
UNI
