Security forces Friday defused a powerful improvised explosive device (IED) in Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian district, averting a major tragedy.

Police said the IED was planted in a gas cylinder on Mughal Road by separatist guerrillas to target vehicles of the security forces. The road connects Kashmir Valley with Rajouri district in Jammu region.

"A patrol party of 44 Rashtriya Rifles detected a five-kg IED planted inside a handy gas cylinder near the Circuit House on Mughal Road. The IED was successfully defused by the bomb disposal squad," a police officer said here.