171025-01-08-(Read-Only)
A Pakistani Kashmiri walks past a bus doing the Muzaffarabad-Srinagar Bus Service parked on a street, in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan's controlled Kashmir following a shut down of the bus service connecting the cities. Image Credit: AFP

Muzaffarabad: India halted a key bus service to the Pakistan-administered part of Kashmir, cutting the only land route linking the divided Himalayan region, Pakistani and Indian officials said on Wednesday.

According to a Pakistani official, Shahid Mehmood, Indian authorities suspended the bus service this week without explanation.

The development comes amid escalated tensions between Pakistan and India in the wake of last week’s deadly suicide bombing in Kashmir against Indian paramilitary troops.

A total of 49 Indian soldiers were killed in Thursday’s attack, which New Delhi blamed on Islamabad.

Pakistan condemned the attack but cautioned India against linking it to the bombing without an investigation.

An Indian official confirmed the service was halted on Monday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk to reporters.

The bus service between Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, was suspended so suddenly that travellers only learnt about it when they went to the terminal. Private cars, motorcycles and other forms of transportation have long been banned.

The bus line, launched in 2005, served to reunite families on separate sides of the heavily militarised Line of Control.

“I came to Muzaffarabad from Rawalpindi to welcome my cousin but was told that no bus will come from Srinagar,” said Zareena Bibi, a 43-year-old Pakistani woman.

Shehzada Akhtar, a 56-year-old woman from the Shopian area in Indian-administered Kashmir, said she was prevented from travelling Monday following a death in her family on the other side of the line.

“I could not go to see my ailing uncle in 2016 when there was some tension between India and Pakistan,” Akhtar explained. “Now when my uncle has passed away, I am again unable to share grief with my beloved cousins.”

Angered over the suspension of bus service, dozens of people rallied in Muzaffarabad on Wednesday.

Last week’s bombing in Indian-administered Kashmir was the worst attack against Indian forces in the history of the disputed region, where militants have been fighting Indian rule since 1989.