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Brigadier, colonel killed in landmine blast

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

In a serious setback to the counter-insurgency operations in north Kashmir, two senior army officers, a brigadier and his deputy, were killed in a massive landmine blast at Zachaldara near Handwara in the northern border district of Kupwara late on Monday afternoon.

Official sources in Srinagar said 10 soldiers, including some officers, were wounded in the massive explosion.

The sector commander of 7 Rashtriya Rifles, Brigadier Sher Gill, and his deputy, Colonel Rajinder Chauhan, commanding officer of 21 RR, were moving through Zachaldara when their vehicle hit the landmine. The two officers were killed on the spot. One of the injured personnel also died of his wounds later in hospital.

The sources said the brigadier had only recently joined as the new sector commander of 7 RR in the sensitive border area of Handwara and Kupwara.

No organisation has yet owned responsibility for the blast. This is the second time in 11 years of militancy in Kashmir that an army officer of the rank of brigadier has been killed.

Sources said the brigadier was on a tour of inspection of his units in the area when the bomb exploded.

Meanwhile, three army men were killed and 15 others were wounded when militants fired rockets on a transit camp at Banihal on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway in the afternoon.

Police sources in Srinagar said militants fired the rockets, which hit a barrack where soldiers were resting. The condition of three of the injured jawans is stated to be critical.

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