Hand grenade thrown at Indian Kashmir bus stop injures 35

Srinagar: Suspected Islamist rebels threw a grenade at a crowded bus terminal in the Indian portion of Kashmir on Friday, wounding 35 people, including seven children, police said.

The suspected separatists hurled a hand grenade at a police and paramilitary patrol near a busy bus stop in Banihal, roughly 120 kilometres south of Indian Kashmir's main city, Srinagar, said senior police official Hemant Lohia.

At least five people were wounded critically and were rushed to a hospital. Six police and paramilitary officers were wounded, Lohia said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack comes a day after a civilian was killed and his son seriously wounded when a grenade exploded inside their home in Awantipore, a town 35 kilometres south of Srinagar, said Faisal Ahmed, a local police officer.

About a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian government forces to carve out a separate homeland or to merge the Himalayan region, India's only Muslim-majority state, with India's neighbour, Pakistan.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.