Five injured in fresh grenade explosions in Kashmir

Srinagar, Apr 16 (UNI) At least five people were injured in yet another grenade attack here while two militants were killed and security forces seized arms and ammunition across the state since last evening, an official spokesman said today.

The casualty figure would have gone up had the four other grenades gone off while the fifth one exploded without causing any damage.

The fresh attacks came despite the heightened security in the entire Kashmir valley following seven grenade explosions by the militants in the City on April 14 in which five people were killed and 42 others wounded.

The Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police later claimed to have arrested nine Jaish-e-Mohammad militants responsible for the coordinated grenade attacks.

The spokesman said militants hurled a hand grenade towards a security force picket at Rainawari chowk in the downtown city this afternoon.

However, the grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the road causing injuries to five pedestrians.

The injured have been shifted to hospital, he added.

Militants lobbed another hand grenade at the security forces near Iqbal Park in north Kashmir's Sopore this afternoon.

The grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside without causing any damage.

In yet another attack, militants hurled a grenade towards a vehicle carrying the security forces near the Sopore police station this afternoon.

However, the grenade did not explode and was later defused by the bomb disposal squad.

Militants also hurled a hand grenade on the Khanyar police station which also did not explode.

A container carrying two grenades was found at Tahab road in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. The security forces seized the container and defused the grenades.

The spokesman said a militant was killed when he was planting an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) at Khumriyal in the frontier district of Kupwara yesterday.

Two AK magazines, 60 rounds, five UBGL grenades, one wireless set, a diary and one matrix sheet were seized from the spot, he said, adding the identity of the slain ultra could not be establised as his body was blown into pieces in the blast.

In a joint operation, troops of 36 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and the Jammu and Kashmir Police personnel killed a Jaish divisional commander, identified as Aftab Ansari, in a gunfight at Adigam, Kokernag in south Kashmir district of Anantnag this evening.

Ansari was a resident of Pakistan.

Security forces seized an AK rifle, one magazine, 214 rounds, one pistol, one pistol magazine, three rounds and 12 hand grenades from Zamboora Pattan Behak Ragli forest area in Uri tehsil of Baramulla district today.

UNI AG VD KN1928