Child dies in Kashmir grenade attack

A grenade explosion killed a young girl and wounded at least 18 civilians in a Kashmir border town today.

Indian police blamed the attack on Islamic rebels, whom they said escaped after hurling the grenade at a crowded market in Rajouri, 100 miles northwest of Jammu, the state’s winter capital.

Three of the wounded were in a critical condition, said an officer.

More than a dozen Muslim militant groups have been fighting to free Jammu-Kashmir from Indian rule, or merge it with Islamic Pakistan.

The rebels, after lying low for several weeks during tension between India and Pakistan along their border, have recently stepped up attacks.