Explosion in old mosque during demolition in J&K’s Kupwara, 3 injured

Srinagar:  Three people were injured on Monday in a mysterious explosion during the demolition of a mosque in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

Officials said that three persons sustained injuries after the explosion, which occurred during the demolition of an old mosque structure at Langate Handwara area in the district.

“The blast occurred while local residents were building a mosque as part of its reconstruction process. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, leaving three individuals injured on the spot. The injured were immediately shifted to the sub-district hospital Langate, where one injured was shifted to the government medical college Handwara for specialised treatment,” said the officials..

Police have registered an FIR into the incident, and further investigation has started, the officials said.

It must be mentioned that border areas like Langate suffered heavy mortar shelling by Pakistan after the Indian Armed Forces carried out targeted strikes at terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Pakistan retaliated by heavy shelling on civilian facilities in Poonch, Rajouri, Baramulla, Kupwara and Bandipora districts. Some unexploded shells fired by Pakistan were defused by the security forces before civilians were allowed to move back to their homes in border areas.

The Armed Forces, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave them free hand to avenge the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack in which Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists killed 26 civilians, carried out strikes at nine places, including Muridke near Lahore, Bahawalpur and Kotli and Muzaffarabad in PoK.

Eighteen people were killed in Pakistan shelling on civilian facilities, 13 of them in Poonch district only. Scores of homes, shops, a mosque, a church and a Gurudwara were destroyed in Pakistan shelling in Poonch district.

–IANS