5-kg IED defused

SRINAGAR: Averting a major tragedy, security forces on Saturday defused an improvised explosive device (IED), weighing approximately five kilogrammes, on Srinagar-Baramulla highway. The IED was found in HMT area of Srinagar this morning, a police official said. The official said the area was cordoned off and traffic was diverted. A bomb disposal squad was rushed to the spot, which defused the explosive device, the official said.
Terrorists often trigger IED blasts to target security forces in the region. While the explosive device was defused successfully, the second such instance within a week must worry the forces as the IEDs have not been used by the terrorists since 2015 till January 6 this year, when four policemen were killed in an IED blast in Sopore township of north Kashmir.