Two army personnel, who were injured when their convoy was attacked with an improvised explosive device in Arihal village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday, succumbed to injuries on Tuesday, ANI reported.

A defence spokesperson in Srinagar said that two Army men had suffered severe contusions and concussions. They died while undergoing treatment at the Army’s 92 base hospital in Srinagar, the spokesperson said, according to Kashmir Reader.

Some reports on Monday had said that five soldiers were injured but others claimed nine were wounded in the incident. Residents in the area had said that “intense firing” took place after the blast, according to Greater Kashmir.

Advertisement

The daily said early on Tuesday that a civilian, Abdul Ahad Mir of Arihal, was also injured in the attack, quoting police officers. They said Mir was walking down the road when the blast took place. Mir, who had splinter injuries, was taken to hospital.

Defence spokesperson Colonel Rajesh Kalia on Monday claimed it was a failed attempt, according to the Hindustan Times. “The attack was made on a mobile vehicle patrol of 44 RR [Rashtriya Rifles] with a vehicle-based IED while the Army patrol was moving in the general area Arihal in district Pulwama today evening,” he said.

Local residents told Greater Kashmir that they heard a deafening sound followed by intense firing. “The firing lasted for about 10 minutes,” they said.

The attack came months after 40 CRPF personnel died in an attack in Pulwama in February. The site of Monday’s blast is 27 km away from where the attack took place three months ago. A militant drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus in Pulwama. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a militant outfit claimed responsibility for the attack. India retaliated by targeting a Jaish camp in Balakot in Pakistan with airstrikes. The airstrikes were described by the Indian government as a “non-military preemptive action”.