7 Amarnath Yatris including 5 women killed in terror attack in J&K
From The Squint
- Terrorists killed at least seven Amarnath Yatra pilgrims and injured several others
- Terrorists targeted an unregistered bus that was carrying pilgrims in J&K’s Anantnag district
- Internet services have been banned in the area after the attack
- Troops of 90 and 40 battalion of the CRPF were rushed to the spot
- There was prior intelligence reports of terrorist attacks on Amarnath Yatri pilgrims
Seven Amarnath pilgrims, five of them women, were killed in a terrorist attack and 15 others were injured in Anantnag, the police said.
At 8:20 pm, the terrorists attacked an armoured car of the police, an official said. When the police fired back, the attackers fled, firing indiscriminately, the official added. A bus carrying yatris was on the highway when the incident occurred.
The pilgrims are reportedly from Himmatnagar town in north Gujarat, The Times of India reported.
“In the firing by terrorists, seven people, five of them women, were killed, and another seven injured,” the official said.
The bus had come from Sonamarg. The pilgrims were on their way back after visiting the Amarnath shrine. CRPF DG RR Bhatnagar told The Hindu that the Amarnath Yatra will be on and the decision to call it off or to continue is to be taken by the J&K government.
The police claimed the bus driver had violated rules for the pilgrimage, which state that no yatra vehicle should be on a highway after 7 pm.
Troops of 90 and 40 Battalion of the CRPF were rushed to the spot.
News18 reported that there were three assailants, and one of them, Ismail, arrived on a motorbike and emptied two magazines on pilgrims.
Earlier, the Amarnath yatra was suspended from Jammu due to law and order situation in the Kashmir Valley under curfew for the death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh Seeks Report From J&K CM & Governor
Home Minister Rajnath Singh called up J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Governor NN Vohra over terror attack on Amarnath pilgrims. Singh seeked details of the attack from CM and Governor and also directed officials to ensure foolproof security in future.
Intel Suggested Terrorists to Target Amarnath Yatra
Media report suggested that there were intelligence reports that predicted that terrorists are planning to attack Amarnath Yatra this year.
The intelligence report stated that as much as 150 pilgrims can be targeted with the intent to kill. It also states that around 100 cops are also likely to be ‘eliminated’.
History of Attacks
In a series of planned massacres, militants had gunned down around 30 Amarnath Yatris in August 2000.
Hours after their strike at Amarnath pilgrims base camp at Pahalgam, the militants, believed to be opposed to the Hizbul Mujahideen’s ceasefire declaration, struck with a vengeance striking at five places killing at least 58 members.
There were attacks in the following two years as well with a total of around 20 people killed.
For more on this story go to: https://www.thequint.com/news/2017/07/10/anantnag-terrorist-attack
