Blast on Srinagar airport road injures 15

Srinagar, Sep 1 (UNI) About 15 people, including five Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, were injured when militants triggered a powerful car blast at Hyderpora chowk on the Srinagar Airport road this afternoon, official sources said.

Police had earlier detected and defused a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) on the same road.

The blast took place at the chowk, damaging a government jeep and two other vehicles, official sources said.

''We saw some injured being shifted to hospital'', an eyewitness told UNI. He claimed to have seen a driver coming out from the vehicle in an injured condition.

He said the blast was so powerful that windscreens of several vehicles shattered.

However, a police spokesman told UNI that the information so far received said five BSF personnel of STC, Humhama, and seven civilians were injured in the blast.

He said the IED was planted in a Maruti car with number plate JK01A-5234. The car, parked on the roadside, was totally damaged in the blast.

He said the injured were admitted to hospitals.

The area was cordoned off by the security forces and nobody was allowed to go near the blast site, he said.

Earlier, during the day Jammu and Kashmir police averted a major tragedy on the Srinagar-Airport road when they detected and defused a powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED), planted by militants to target VIPs.

A police spokesman said a patrol party noticed a powerful IED planted near Nadar Gund crossing on the Indira Gandhi airport road.

He said the area was immediately sealed and those present were taken to safer place.

Later, the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) was summoned and the IED was defused without causing any damage.

''Had it not been detected and defused, it would have caused much damage to life and property,'' he said.

UNI