Delhi Red Fort blast could be a ‘fidayeen’ suicide attack, say sources

Investigators are looking into the possibility of the Delhi’s Red Fort blast being a case of a ‘fidyaeen’ suicide attack, sources have told CNN-News 18.

A fidayeen attack is a type of jihadist assault in which terrorists infiltrate their targets with ammunition and explosives with the tension of entrenching there and causing as much damage as possible until their ammunitions and explosives run out. While such attacks appear to be suicidal as terrorists are almost always killed in the end, fidayeens don’t mount the attack with the certain intent of dying — unlike a suicide bomber whose death is certain from the onset.

Theoretically and practically, escape is both an option and a possibility and there have been instances of fidayeen attacks in which terrorists have escaped.

Fidayeen attacks have been common in Jammu and Kashmir, but they have been rather rare elsewhere in India.

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The car —a Hyundai i20— used in the attack appears to have been parked for over three hours prior to the explosion, suggesting it may have been deliberately timed to target heavy evening traffic and cause maximum casualties, according to CNN-News 18.

On Monday, a slow-moving vehicle had stopped at a traffic light near the Red Fort Metro Station at around 6.52 pm and exploded. Several nearby vehicles were damaged in the explosion. At least eight people were killed and 20 injured.

Read all Delhi Red Fort blast updates here

The blast was so strong that it was felt up to two kilometres away in the ITO area where several news organisations are based. Journalists posted on social media that they felt the blast in their offices.

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The Red Fort blast occurred hours after authorities recovered around 360 kilograms of suspected ammonium nitrate and a cache of arms and ammunition from a Kashmiri doctor’s rented accommodation in Haryana’s Faridabad, near Delhi. They arrested Dr Muzammil Ganaie from Faridabad’s Dhauj area.

Authorities suspect that the Red Fort blast could be linked to Ganaie, who in turn was nabbed as part of an ongoing counter-terrorism investigation stretching from Jammu and Kashmir to Haryana.

In the investigation, the J&K Police has said that around 2,900 kg of bomb-making material has so far been recovered in the case. This includes explosives, chemicals, reagents, inflammable material, electronic circuits, batteries, wires, remote controls, timers, and metal sheets.

The J&K Police has said it has arrested seven persons in the case working for terrorist groups Jaish-e-Mohammed and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind. Jaish has a history of fidayeen attacks, including the 2001 parliament attack and 2019 Pulwama bombing.