ISLAMABAD: At least nine people were killed and 27 were injured when a large cache of confiscated explosives stored inside Nowgam police station in illegally Indian-occupied Kashmir exploded, Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Saturday.
At least 24 policemen and three civilians were taken to hospitals. Officials say the “massive” blast caused extensive structural damage, while secondary explosions delayed emergency response.
A police source told Reuters that several bodies were burnt beyond recognition, with some body parts found 200 metres away. PTI reported that those killed included: Three Forensic Science Laboratory staff, two revenue department officials, two police photographers, one member of the State Investigation Agency, and one tailor assisting the team.
“The identification of the bodies is underway, as some have been completely burnt,” a police source told Reuters.
“The intensity of the blast was such that some body parts were recovered from nearby houses, around 100-200 metres away from the police station,” the police official said.
The explosion has again highlighted India’s poor handling of explosives and the unsafe conditions created by its militarised presence in illegally Indian-occupied Kashmir.
Pakistan has long maintained that such failures endanger civilians and reflect systemic shortcomings.
The incident occurred just four days after a deadly car explosion in New Delhi, which killed at least eight people.
India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing the Delhi blast but has offered no clarity on the perpetrators or possible motives.
Sweeping Raids Raise Concerns
India’s anti-terrorism National Investigation Agency is leading the probe into the blast, but so far, officials have given little further information on who the perpetrators might be.
Indian forces have launched wide-ranging raids across illegally Indian-occupied Kashmir since Wednesday. A university in Faridabad was searched, while forces demolished a house in Pulwama on Friday.
India has not confirmed if the raids are linked to the New Delhi blast, but observers say they reflect India’s continued coercive tactics in the region.
Pakistan maintains that such heavy-handed measures undermine peace efforts and further aggravate human rights concerns in the disputed territory.
