High alert in Jammu and Kashmir after Pakistan shares inputs about possible terror attack in Pulwama

Jammu and Kashmir has been put on alert after Pakistan shared inputs about a possible terror attack near Awantipora in Pulwama, a top security official told The Indian Express .

“The Pakistanis shared this information regarding the possibility of such an attack with our High Commission in Islamabad. They had also shared this information with the Americans, who too, informed us. So this information has come directly as well as via the Americans to us,” the official said.

According to India Today , intelligence inputs said that an improvised explosive device (IED) mounted on a vehicle in Awantipora may be used in the attack, a method akin to the one used in the 14 February car bomb attack which targeted a CRPF convoy in Pulwama, killing 40 security personnel.

Confirming the alert, a police officer told The Indian Express that the forces are always on their toes in south Kashmir.

The inputs were received by both India and the United States on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit held in Kyrgyztan’s Bishkek last week. At the summit, also attended by his Pakistani counterpart Imran Khan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told Chinese president Xi Jinping that Pakistan needs to create an atmosphere free of terrorism, adding that all attempts of peace talks with the neighbouring country have been derailed.

This information, which comes days after a fidayeen attack on a CRPF patrol party in Anantnag on Wednesday which claimed the lives of five personnel, has put the security forces in the region on alert. Tensions are also prevailing in the Valley since the killing of Zakir Musa in Tral last month.