At least six civilians were injured in a grenade explosion at the crowded Sunday market in Srinagar. The grenade attack came a day after a senior commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba was killed in a day-long encounter in downtown Srinagar. Four security forces personnel were also injured in the encounter.
The target of the grenade thrown by militants was a security forces vehicle near the Tourist Reception Center (TRC) crossing. The grenade missed the vehicle, detonating on the road and injuring civilians nearby. The SMHS hospital confirmed receiving five injured individuals, all in stable condition.
The Sunday market is a popular weekly flea market that attracts large crowds for winter shopping, making it especially busy on weekends. After the incident, the police cordoned off the area and launched an extensive search operation to track the attackers.
Attacks by militants have witnessed a rise after the Omar Abdullah-led government was sworn in on October 16. On November 1, two non-local labourers working on the 'Jal Jeevan' project in the Mazhama area of central Kashmir’s Budgam district were shot and injured by suspected militants. The labourers were working near the Mazhama graveyard along Nallah Sukhnag when they were attacked. One sustained a bullet wound to his arm, the other to his leg; both are in stable condition and out of danger.
On October 23 in Gagangeer, Ganderbal a local doctor and six labourers were killed in a targeted assault. The attack was followed by an attack on an army vehicle in Gulmarg, Baramulla in which two army porters and three soldiers lost their lives.
Farooq Abdullah, NC president and former chief minister, on November 2 demanded a probe into the spurt in militant attacks to ascertain whether any agency was trying to destabilise the government. He questioned the increase in encounters since the government was formed in Jammu and Kashmir. "I question why we didn’t see a surge in gunfights before the government was formed,” Abdullah told reporters at his residence in Srinagar. “There should be an independent probe to find out who is behind this.”
Referring to the Khanyar encounter, Abdullah suggested they should be arrested rather than killed. “They should be detained to investigate whether any agency has been tasked with destabilising Omar Abdullah's government,” he said.
