Terror attack on BSF vans in J&K kills 33. (Hat tip: Anant.)

In a major strike, militants attacked a BSF convoy by detonating a powerful landmine killing 33 personnel and their family members, including six women and three children, and seriously injuring two others on Srinagar-Jammu national highway Sunday morning.

Among the dead, 15 were BSF personnel and 18 civilians travelling in a bus in the convoy, sources in the BSF said. The personnel were going on a holiday with family members when the landmine went off at a culvert at Woodsa, about 100 kms from here, they said.

The bus bore the brunt of the blast which set the vehcile on fire making it difficult for the passengers to escape. The bus skidded off the road and fell under the culvert due to the impact of the blast. As it caught fire there was an explosion in its diesel tank.

Most of the victims were charred to death and the bodies were beyond recognition. The powerful explosion blew the bus into pieces and created a two metre deep crater on the road leading to suspension of traffic on the 300-km highway.