37 CRPF Men Killed In J&K Suicide Attack

Jaish militant rams explosives­laden vehicle into bus that was part of a convoy of 70 vehicles

At least 37 CRPF personnel were killed on Thursday when a convoy in which they were travelling was attacked by a Jaish­e­Mohammed (JeM) suicide bomber, who rammed his explosives­laden vehicle into one of the convoy’s buses near Awantipora on the Srinagar­ Jammu Highway.

The bombing in the Lethpora area of Pulwama district also left at least eight jawans critically injured and was the deadliest attack in terms of casualties in the last three decades of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir.

Dastardly: Rajnath

In a post on Twitter, Home Minister Rajnath Singh blamed the “Pakistan­based, Pakistan­backed” JeM for the “dastardly” attack.

“The exact number of casualties is being ascertained,” a CRPF spokesman said. “Thirty­seven casualties are confirmed. The injured have been shifted to hospitals...”