|
SRINAGAR, INDIA - THIRTY-TWO people, including children and police officers, were hurt on Friday in a blast at a busy bus station in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.
The incident took place in Banihal town, about 120 kilometres south of Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar, a police spokesman said.
'Five of the injured - including two police officers - are in critical condition,' he said, adding the area was immediately sealed off and searches launched to find those responsible for the attack.
Police said suspected militants hurled a hand grenade at a group of police officers gathered at the bus station.
Civilian bystanders, including children, were also injured in the attack, a local reporter said.
'Many of the injured were young school children who were waiting for buses to go home,' local reporter Abdul Rashid from Banihal said.
He said residents fled in panic following the explosion with many people taking shelter on buses and inside nearby shops.
Kashmir is in the grip of an 18-year-old insurgency against Indian rule that has so far left more than 43,000 people dead, according to official figures.
New Delhi and Islamabad launched a peace process in 2004 to resolve all pending disputes, including the one on Kashmir - a scenic region they both hold in part but each claim in full.
Violence in the region has declined sharply since. -- AFP
| 
