Four killed in suspected LoC blast in J&K

At least four people were killed, and a few others were injured in a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Krishna Ghati sector of Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Monday.

The suspected blast was reported in the forward area around 4.00 p.m. The circumstances leading to the powerful explosion in the Satwal-Naki area near the zero line were yet to be established.

Till the time of filing the report, it could not be ascertained whether a group of terrorists, attempting to infiltrate inside Indian Territory, bore the brunt of the powerful explosion or regular soldiers of the Pakistan Army were patrolling in the area at the time of the IED blast in the forward area.

Ground reports claimed Indian troops were kept in a state of high alert following reports of a major infiltration bid in the KG sector of Poonch. The suspected movement of a large group was also detected by alert troops in the forward area, following which a powerful blast rocked the area, in which at least four people suffered fatal injuries, and a few others were injured.

“Following the explosion, security forces sounded an alert across the sector and intensified vigilance along the LoC to assess the situation and prevent any possible security breach,” officials said.

Earlier, Indian Army troops on Monday detected two rusted landmines near the border fence in the Basoni area of Mendhar sector. The landmines were spotted during track construction at 8:25 a.m. and 12:10 pm, officials said, adding that Army experts later destroyed both explosive devices in a controlled explosion.

The Army detected and defused around a dozen landmines in the area over the past week.