Till last week it was the sniping war at the LoC which was live, with casualties on both the sides. Even as we were discussing the new Indian Army sniper rifles under induction, it was certain that a change in character of the proxy war in Kashmir would take place sooner than later. Pakistan’s deep state masterminding the actions of terrorists in the Valley had already experimented with targeting of local policemen and soldiers on leave.

For long, analysts were anticipating the return of one of the most effective weapons of sub-conventional conflicts: the improvised explosive device or the IED and its derivative, the car bomb. It returned in Pulwama with the addition of an even more potent weapon, the suicide bomber.

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