Four dead in ‘mysterious’ explosion in IIOJK

Four people were killed in a mysterious blast in the town of Sopore in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Monday, officials said.

The incident occurred in the Shair colony of Sopore, a region that has been peaceful for the past four years following a history of separatist violence, NDTV reported.

"Four people sustained critical injuries when a mysterious blast occurred in the Shair colony of Sopore town this afternoon. The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital where doctors declared three of the injured brought dead. The fourth injured person was shifted to SKIMS hospital in Srinagar, but he succumbed to injuries on the way," an official said.

The victims have been identified as Nazir Ahmad Nadroo, Azam Ashraf Mir, Adil Rashid Bhat, and Abdul Rashid Bhat, all residents of the Sopore area, the official added.

Police have registered a case and have launched an investigation to determine the exact nature of the explosion.

Sopore was once a hotbed of separatist violence in the Kashmir valley amid the insurgency but has seen a period of relative calm in recent years. The area was also the political stronghold of the late hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who hailed from the town.