The number of people, who were killed by a deadly bombing attack in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, has increased to 45, local media reported on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th February, 2019) The number of people, who were killed by a deadly bombing attack in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, has increased to 45, local media reported on Friday.
On Thursday, the explosion of an improvised explosive device hit a police convoy of 78 vehicles that was moving from Jammu to the Pulwama district. Previously, local media reported about 40 victims of the terror attack.
According to police, all 44 people, who were in one of the buses from the convoy, died as a result of the attack with one more person from another vehicle having also been killed by the blast, the IANS news agency reported. The explosion also left 38 people injured.
After the terror attack India decided to withdraw the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan, which traditionally supports Islamist and separatist movements in Kashmir.
"Most Favoured Nation status to Pakistan stands withdrawn," Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters, as quoted by the ANI news agency.
The minister pointed out that stripping Pakistan of the MFN status, which envisages non-discriminatory trade with Islamabad, was aimed at isolating the country.
"Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) will initiate all possible diplomatic steps which have to be taken to ensure the complete isolation from the international community from Pakistan of which incontrovertible evidence is available of having a direct hand in this gruesome attack," Jaitley added.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The group, which used to perpetrate attacks in the Jammu and Kashmir state, is affiliated with Taliban movement and al-Qaeda terrorist organization (banned in Russia) and aims to separate Kashmir from India and to merge it into neighboring Pakistan.
Jammu and Kashmir is a region that has been disputed by India and Pakistan since 1947 when both countries gained independence from the British Empire. The two countries have gone through three wars over the region, but the conflict has not been resolved. The unstable situation in the region has led to the emergence of extremist groups.
