14 Ocober 2005
Woman suicide bomber is J&K first
- By Our Special Correspondent
Srinagar, Oct. 13: A woman suicide bomber was blown to pieces as an improvised explosive device in her possession went off ahead of time during a planned attack on an Army convoy along the Srinagar-Jammu highway on Thursday.
Her head was severed from the body, which itself was torn apart with the impact of the blast. Pieces of flesh and limbs were scattered all over the compound of a roadside house, police officials who were on the scene soon after said.
Reports said that the suicide bomber had hid herself behind the outer wall of the house owned by one Gulam Muhammad Butt, a retired state government official. As the Army convoy on the way to Jammu from Srinagar neared the highway town of Awantipore, 32 km south of here, she began to walk out to slam herself into it. But the bomb she was carrying went off prematurely, killing her about 10 to 12 yards away from the road.
The house owner and a couple of other persons were being questioned, police officials said. Jammu and Kashmir director-general of police Gopal Sharma said: "We've found the dismembered body of a woman and are ascertaining what the incident is all about." The Jaish-e-Muhammad said the slain woman belonged to its women's wing Banaat-ul-Aisha and said her name was Hafza.
A caller who identified himself as Jaish spokesperson Abu Qadama told the local news agency CNS that she was an important member of the group. "The operation was successful as she could kill six Indian soldiers," he claimed. But the police and witnesses said no one was hurt and that only the windowpanes of Butt's house were damaged.
It is for the first time since the Kashmiri separatist campaign became violent in 1989 that a woman suicide bomber has surfaced. Earlier, only male members of various militant outfits, including the Jaish, would carry out suicide attacks against the security forces' camps and other installations. Last month, militants had ambushed an Army convoy while passing through Awantipore, killing five and wounding seven soldiers. The Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, another predominantly foreign militant group, had claimed responsibility for it.
Meanwhile, two militants were killed during separate clashes with the security forces in Poonch and Kupwara districts on Thursday.