SRINAGAR – Four policemen were killed after an IED device exploded in Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.
The blast took place in Sopore town near a shop in a lane between ‘Chotta Bazaar’ and ‘Bada Bazaar’ when the police party was on routine patrol. Three shops were also destroyed completely in the explosion.
Police spokesman Harmeet Singh talking to Al Jazeera said, “A group of four policemen who were on law-and-order duty were killed,” Singh said. “Ten shops were also damaged due to the blast, as it was very strong.”
The causalities were low in the intensive blast as the shops in the market were closed following a protest in the area against the 1993 massacre, in which 57 people were killed.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed her grief over the demise of the policemen.
https://twitter.com/MehboobaMufti/status/949513543220637696
On January 1, five Indian soldiers were killed in a gun battle at the Lethora-based camp, in southern Kashmir.
Iround half a million soldiers are deployed in the disputed territory. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed since the uprising started in the valley for the freedom.