Grenade attack injures 59 in Kashmir

A grenade explosion in a busy market wounded at least 59 people today in India’s insurgency-wracked Jammu-Kashmir state.

Three policemen were among the injured, police said.

Suspected rebels hurled the grenade toward a passing Indian army convoy near the main bus station in Pulwama.

The grenade missed the target and exploded on the street, wounding 56 civilians and three policemen on foot patrol. Eight people were critically wounded.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamic militant groups have been fighting for the state’s independence from India or its merging with Pakistan since 1989.

More than 65,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict.

Pakistan and India both claim all of Kashmir.