At least 9 killed, 32 injured in blast at police station in Indian-administered Kashmir

A cache of seized explosives went off inside a police station in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing at least 9 people and injuring 32 others, officials say.

The explosion struck the Nowgam area of Srinagar, the region’s main city, late Friday, as a team of forensic experts and police were examining the materials, Nalin Prabhat, the police director-general of the region, told reporters.

“9 people have lost their lives in the blast, including 3 State Investigation Agency personnel, 2 crime photographers, 2 revenue officials, and 1 tailor,” Prabhat said.

He described the incident as an accidental blast and said any speculation about alternative causes was unnecessary.

In addition to the fatalities, 27 police personnel, 2 revenue officials, and 3 civilians sustained injuries. The wounded were transported to nearby hospitals.

The powerful blast tore through the police station, igniting fires in the building and several vehicles. Police said smaller successive explosions delayed immediate rescue efforts.

The blast at Nowgam police station occurred days after Monday’s deadly car explosion in New Delhi, which killed at least eight people near the historic Red Fort. Indian authorities described the car blast as a “heinous terror incident” carried out by “anti-national forces.”

The New Delhi attack came hours after police in Kashmir reported dismantling a suspected militant cell in the region, arresting at least 7 individuals, including 2 doctors from Indian cities, and seizing a substantial amount of bomb-making material in Faridabad, near New Delhi.

Police had transported the explosives from Faridabad to Kashmir as part of their investigation. The materials were “kept securely in an open area” at the police station where the inquiry into the suspected militant cell had begun the previous month, according to Prabhat.

“On account of the voluminous recovery, the process was ongoing for two days … Owing to the unstable and sensitive nature of the recovery, it was being handled with utmost caution. However, during this process, an accidental explosion took place,” Prabhat added.

Suicide blast kills 12, injures dozens in Islamabad

A suicide bombing has killed at least 12 people and injured 27 others outside a court building in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, a suicide bombing struck Islamabad’s judicial district in Pakistan on Tuesday.

Security forces prevented the vehicle from reaching the courthouse, but the explosion near a police car killed 9 people and wounded 30 others.

Earlier that day, Pakistani forces thwarted an attempt by militants to seize cadets at a military college in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the Afghan border. Officials said a suicide car bomber and 5 militants attacked the facility overnight.

Local police chief, Alamgir Mahsud, said troops quickly killed 2 assailants, while 3 others entered the compound and became trapped in an administrative building.

The Pakistani army’s Special Forces later launched a clearance operation, with intermittent gunfire continuing into Tuesday.

In a statement published on X on Tuesday, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif blamed India for the attacks.

“Both attacks are the worst examples of Indian state terrorism in the region … It is time for the world to condemn such nefarious conspiracies of India,” he said.

“We will continue the war against them until the complete elimination of the scourge of terrorism,” he added.

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