The deadly car bomb attack carried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad on a convoy of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on Thursday in Pulwama district in Jammu & Kashmir is similar to terror strikes in Afghanistan, Syria and some other trouble-torn parts of the WestAsia.
Intelligence had information about the attack for the last one year but no fruitful counter-mechanism could be put in place, as per sources.
Officials in the security establishment said the attack of such magnitude and sophistication on Thursday has been unseen before in the Valley which is a marked shift in the terror tactic in Jammu & Kashmir amid a clear administrative and Intelligence failure.
“The initiative always lies with the terrorists and the security and intelligence community have clearly failed in assessing such an attack beforehand. It also indicates the capabilities and capacities to execute terror attacks in a repeated fashion by the JeM with impunity. The JeM was involved in the Pathankot airbase terror strike on January 2, 2016,” the official said.
Last such attack was recorded on November 2, 2005 when a suicide bomber blew up his car at Nowgam, near the private residence of then Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, killing three cops and six civilians.
Another major car bomb strike was registered on October 1, 2001 when terrorists triggered a car bomb outside the old Legislative Assembly Complex in Srinagar in which 38 persons were killed while three terrorists were also neutralised. The first “human bomb” was used on April 19, 2000 in which two soldiers were killed in the suicide car bomb at the Army headquarters at Badamibagh area in Srinagar.
Sources in the security agencies and counter-terror experts said the planner for the terror strike could have been of Pakistani military background who had put in a well-engineered system to inflict maximum damage.
Initial assessments suggest the JeM has used a cocktail of more than one explosive and could have possibly used CNG/LPG cylinder and the Scorpio SUV for the attack which was triggered in between two buses of the convoy of 78 vehicles that were carrying 2,547 personnel from Jammu to Srinagar.
The nature of the smoke which is whitish in colour suggests use of LPG/CNG gas as high explosives generate black smoke. However, some explosive could have been used as part of the triggering mechanism. The attackers had hit in a manner that the fuel of the 76 Battalion bus was also suspected to have been calculated to maximise the impact.
Meanwhile, a team of forensic experts of the National Investigation Agency will reach Srinagar on Friday to assist the Jammu & Kashmir police in forensic evaluation of the scene of crime, NIA IG Alok Mital said in a statement.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh named Pakistan-backed JeM as the outfit behind the Thursday attack and assured the nation that a strong response will be given to the attack.
This is one of the worst terror strikes in the State since the Uri attack in 2016 that triggered the surgical strikes against Pakistan.
The Intelligence agencies have tracked a 10-minute video of the fidayeen Aadil Ahmad alias Waqas Commando who was a resident of Gundi Bagh in Pulwama district who hit the bus number HR 49 F 0637 carrying 42 paramilitary personnel.
