Three Central Reserve Police Forces troopers and two civilians were wounded in a powerful grenade blast in the saffron-rich Pampore town in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Friday morning.
A senior police officer said that the militants hurled a hand grenade at the CRPF troopers, who were part of a road opening party, in Pampore town on the strategic Jammu-Srinagar national highway.
“The injured were immediately evacuated to hospital for treatment. The area has been cordoned off for searches,” the officer said.
The blast triggered panic and tension in the busy market place making people run for safety.
Meanwhile, anti-militant operations in the dense forests of Kupwara entered its fifth day on Friday with fresh firing exchanges between the combing troops and hiding militants on Friday morning.
Commanding officer Colonel Santosh Mahadik of the army was killed while leading his troops in a fierce encounter with a group of heavily armed militants in Manigah forest area of Kupwara district on Tuesday.
