Bomb kills seven in Kashmir

Suspected Islamic militants set off a powerful bomb blast in Indian-administered Kashmir killing three people and wounding at least seven others, police said today.

Senior police official Hemant Lohia said the explosives were packed in a car parked near the central jail in the main city of Srinagar and detonated by remote control as a police bus drove past.

Mr Lohia said two policemen and a woman passer-by were killed instantly. Seven wounded people were taken to hospital. He described the condition of at least three of them as critical.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Militants have been fighting Indian security forces in the disputed Himalayan region for two decades.