About 60 people were injured on Monday when suspected Islamic rebels hurled a hand grenade that exploded in a crowded market near a bus terminal in Indian Kashmir, police said.
The rebels tossed the grenade at a passing security force patrol in Pulwama, 30km south of the summer capital, Srinagar, a police spokesperson said.
”Some 57 civilians and three security force personnel were injured in the explosion,” he said.
The blast sparked panic near the bus terminal used by hundreds of passengers to travel daily to Srinagar and other parts of Kashmir, which has been ravaged by a 15-year-old revolt against New Delhi’s rule that has left thousands dead.
”Fourteen of the injured were shifted to Srinagar’s main hospital,” the spokesperson said, adding others were being treated in hospitals in Pulwama and in the neighbouring town of Shopian.
The area was sealed off by security forces who launched a search to find the rebels who threw the grenade.
Thousands of people have died in Indian Kashmir since the eruption of the revolt in the region in 1989.
Grenade attacks are often carried out by rebels and many end up hitting the civilians in the busy areas.
No group has claimed responsibility so far for the attack, police said. — AFP
