Landmine Blast Kills Teenager in Anantnag, Apple Growers Protest Highway Closure

Srinagar, Jammu & Kashmir, September 15, 2025 : A series of tragic and challenging events unfolded in Jammu & Kashmir today, underscoring the ongoing security and infrastructural vulnerabilities in the region. A 17-year-old boy, Shahid Yousuf, who was injured in a landmine blast in the Anantnag district a day earlier, succumbed to his injuries at a military hospital. The landmine, which was planted for the security of an ammunition depot, went off as the boy was in the vicinity, serving as a grim reminder of the lurking dangers that still exist in the region. The incident has prompted an investigation, with officials working to determine the exact circumstances of the blast. Simultaneously, apple growers and traders in Kashmir staged a massive protest against the prolonged closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway. The highway, which connects the Kashmir Valley to the rest of India, has been closed for most of the past four weeks due to landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy rainfall. The closure has left thousands of trucks carrying apples and other perishable goods stranded, with growers and traders claiming that their produce, worth over ₹10,000 crore, is at risk of being spoiled. Fruit mandis across the Valley had called for a two-day shutdown to register their protest against what they called "government inaction." In response, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today flagged off a new cargo parcel train service for transporting apples from Kashmir to Delhi. The new service, which will ferry 23-24 tonnes of apples daily, is an interim solution to alleviate the crisis and provides a new, albeit limited, transport option for the fruit industry. However, the protestors have called for a more permanent and streamlined system to prevent such massive financial losses in the future. The events of the day highlight the dual challenge of security and logistics that the region continues to face.