Grenade attack in Kashmir injures 10

At least 10 people, including a policeman and a journalist, were injured when militants tossed a grenade outside Deputy Commissioner’s office in Anantnag district of south Kashmir on Saturday.

Police said that the militants lobbed a grenade on a security patrol outside the heavily guarded complex in Anantnag town, 55 km from here, at around 11 am. The grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside, causing splinter injuries to eight pedestrians, a policeman and a local journalist.

Reports said immediately after the attack security forces cordoned off the area and a massive search was launched to nab the assailants. The injured were admitted to a hospital as the attack caused panic among people in the town.

No militant outfit claimed responsibility for the attack till this report was filed.

This was the second grenade attack in a week’s time in Kashmir. Last week militant threw a grenade on a paramilitary patrol in old city Srinagar. What is worrisome for the security forces is that these attacks are coming up at a time when they are already on a high alert.

A senior police officer said if the recent grenade attacks are an indication, it seems that militants have revived the strategy of lobbing grenades at security forces and on the roads. “Throwing grenades at busy places is either aimed to provoke the security forces to fire indiscriminately or create a fear among them that they are vulnerable to such attacks,” he said.

The officer said that the use of grenades also allows the attackers to go incognito in the crowd, without being detected or identified. “The grenades are lobbed mostly by upper ground workers of the militants, which makes it even more dangerous,” he added.