2 Army Personnel Succumb to Injuries Day After Pulwama IED Attack

The blast took place at the Arihal village, with reports saying that a Casper vehicle of the 44 RR was damaged.

(Photo: IANS)

Two army personnel who were injured in an IED attack on a mobile vehicle patrol of 44 Rashtriya Rifles in Pulwama's Arihal on Monday, 17 June, have succumbed to their injuries, ANI reported.

The two were brought to the hospital with severe contusions/concussions, and were undergoing treatment at Srinagar's 92 Base Hospital, reports said.

At least nine others, including seven army personnel and two civilians, have been injured when militants triggered an improvised explosive device (IED) fitted in a vehicle near an Army patrol in the militancy-hit Pulwama district of south Kashmir on Monday.

Officials said the multi-vehicle patrol of the 44 Rashtriya Rifles was moving on Arihal-Pulwama road when the IED was detonated by the militants, injuring the personnel travelling in a bullet-and-mine-proof Casper vehicle.

The Army personnel immediately swung into action and fired in air to dominate the situation and ward off any surprise attack, the officials said.

On Monday, Srinagar-based defence spokesperson Col Rajesh Kalia had said it was a "failed attempt" to attack the patrol and except for a "few minor injuries, all troops are safe".

The site of the blast is 27 kms from the area where a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway was attacked by a suicide bomber on 14 February in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.

The attack on Monday had come hours after an encounter with terrorists in Anantnag in south Kashmir, in which an Indian army major was killed and three soldiers were injured.

In another incident, terrorists lobbed a grenade at CRPF 180 Battalion's headquarters in Tral, Pulwama on Monday evening. No casualties were reported, according to ANI.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)