A dastardly terrorist attack on Thursday, February 14, claimed the lives of 45 CRPF personnel and the cricket community led by Virat Kohli has condemned the incident that took place in the Pulwama district of South Kashmir.

The attack took place around 3:15 PM on Thursday when a 'suicide bomber' belonging to the Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) terror outfit rammed an explosive-laden SUV into a bus carrying CRPF troopers in Lethpora area of Pulwama district on the Srinagar-Jammu Highway, officials said. All soldiers in the bus that was attacked with 350 kilograms of explosives succumbed to the blast and as many as 38 soldiers were wounded.

"None among the 44 CRPF men travelling in the bus that took the full impact of the suicide bombing survived ... an injured person in another bus has also succumbed taking the death toll to 45," a CRPF official told IANS. The official added that said the injured CRPF men are being treated in the Army base hospital in Badamibagh cantonment area of Srinagar.

This tragic incident has shaken the entire nation of India and the cricketing community has joined the unanimous condemnation of this terrorist attack. Captain of the Indian cricket team Kohli offered his heartfelt condolences to the martyred soldiers. 

Sachin Tendulkar called the act cowardly, dastardly and meaningless.

Virender Sehwag called it a cowardly attacked and prayed for the speedy recovery of those injured while hinting at a backlash. 

The likes of Rohit Sharma, VVS Laxman and Mohammad Kaif also condemned the attack while extending their thoughts and prayers to families of the martyred. 

The attack was carried out by a 22-year-old suicide bomber named Adil Ahmad Dar. Adil, a resident of Kakapora village in Pulwama, was a school dropout described by his schoolmates as a quiet and shy person.

Following the deadly Pulwama attack, a video of Adil outlining his intentions went viral on social media. Here, he said that attack would be carried out to avenge the Masood Azhar's nephews, the Kulgam civilian killings and Babri Masjid demolition. Masood Azhar is the chief of JeM.

Pulwama bomb blast
Death toll has risen to 45.IANS

"By the time, you will watch this video, I will be enjoying in heaven. Be it the sniper attacks, targetted killings, or IED explosions, we have given nightmares to Indian forces and will continue to do so," Adil said.