A fire broke out at the Indian army’s largest arms depot in Kashmir today, wounding at least 30 people, officials said, as shells exploded into the air and a massive plume of black smoke blanketed the Himalayan region.

An Islamic rebel group in Indian-controlled Kashmir has today condemned the award of a knighthood to author Salman Rushdie and called for a protest strike in the region.

AT least eight people died when suspected Islamic rebel gunmen attacked two Hindu temples in Indian Kashmir on Sunday, police said, as rebels warned a new state government the long anti-Indian revolt was not dead.