Five killed, 20 wounded, in Kashmir blast

A bomb hidden in a pick-up truck exploded in a bustling city in Indian-controlled Kashmir today, killing five people, including the suspected attacker, and injuring at least 20 others.

The blast in Pulwama occurred in an area housing a post office, a school and a security forces’ camp, said deputy inspector general of police Owais Ahmad.

Pulwama is about 30 miles south of Srinagar, the summer capital of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state.

Ahmad said four civilians were killed and at least 20 others were wounded in the blast, including eight critically. He said the toll could rise.

Another police officer at site of the blast said a suspected rebel was also killed in the explosion.

“The attacker was riding the truck carrying the bomb and building materials. The bomb detonated 500 yards short of the main buildings,” said deputy superintendent of police Imtiyaz Ahmad.

Imtiyaz Ahmad said the pick-up truck had been carrying building materials for construction of a perimeter wall around the area.

He said an AK-47 rifle was recovered near the charred body of the unidentified suspected rebel.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blast, which damaged nearby shops and buildings.

More than a dozen Pakistan-based rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan. At least 66,000 people, mostly civilians, had been killed in the conflict since 1989.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over control of Kashmir, since they won independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in its entirety.

Peace initiatives by India and Pakistan in the past year and a half have eased tensions in Kashmir. Nine separatist leaders are currently visiting Pakistan as part of efforts by the archrivals to settle the Kashmir dispute.