Awantipora suicide attack: NSG, NIA teams to arrive in J&K's Pulwama

NEW DELHI: Experts of the anti-terror commando force National Security Guard (NSG) and investigators of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will arrive in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday to join the probe into the suicide terror attack in Pulwama in which at least 44 CRPF personnel were killed.

The decision was taken in view of the high number of casualties in the worst terror strike in the state since the Uri attack in 2016.

An NIA team with forensic experts is being sent to Srinagar to assist Jammu and Kashmir Police in forensic evaluation of the scene of the crime, a Home Ministry official said.

Explosive specialists of the Black Cat commando force NSG will also join in the investigation into the attack, another official said.

At least 44 CRPF personnel were killed in Pulwama district when a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into their bus. 

In the worst-ever terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir since terrorism erupted in 1989, a suicide bomber on Thursday rammed his SUV packed with explosives into a CRPF bus on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in Pulwama district, killing at least 44 troopers.

The Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) has claimed responsibility for the horror and released a video clip of the suicide bomber, a `commander` identified as Adil Ahmad Dar, which it claimed was shot before the young man carried out the strike in Lethpora, about 30 km from Srinagar.

The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) will meet on Friday to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the deadliest terror attack on the CRPF convoy which killed at least 44 troopers and left the security establishment stunned.

According to reports, the CCS meeting is likely to take place at 9:15 AM, the sources said.

The CCS is headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Defence Minister, Home Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister are its members.

Meanwhile, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will also arrive in Srinagar to take stock of the security situation in the wake of the deadliest terrorist attack in J&K.

Singh on Thursday assured the people of the country that the terror attack on a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir, carried out by Pakistan-sponsored Jaish-e-Mohammed, will be avenged.

In a statement, he said the central government is determined to foil the designs of those who want to disrupt peace through such a terror attack "sponsored and sheltered by Pakistan".

"Jaish-e-Mohammed has carried out this terror attack. We assure the country that we will undertake whatever it takes to avenge this," he said.

Several countries from across the globe stood in support of India in the wake of a deadly suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir`s Pulwama district that killed 44 security personnel on Thursday.

The convoy comprised of 78 buses in which around 2,500 personnel were travelling from Jammu to Srinagar. 

From Bangladesh, Israel to the US, all expressed their condolences over the deaths of the CRPF personnel in the suicide attack claimed by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).