9 Killed as Seized Explosives Detonate in Kashmir Police Station

A powerful explosion at a police station in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has killed at least nine people and injured thirty-two others. The Indian television channel NDTV reports this, detailing that the vast majority of the victims are police officers and criminologists. Two high-ranking officials are also among the dead.

The tragic incident occurred when law enforcement officers were inspecting a large batch of previously seized explosive materials. It is noteworthy that this very police station had recently uncovered a terrorist network involved in distributing propaganda posters for the Islamist group "Jaish-e-Mohammed." As part of that case, the police had arrested several suspects with ties to the group and seized the explosives, the inspection of which proved fatal.

Jammu and Kashmir is a disputed region in the northwest of the Hindustan Peninsula, 45% of which is controlled by India, 35% by Pakistan, and 20% by China. The decades-long disputes over the ownership of Kashmir have twice, in 1965 and 1999, led to large-scale wars between India and Pakistan. The situation in the region has again escalated since 2019, when New Delhi revoked the state's autonomous status, which sparked mass protests among the local population.