Indian Border Security Force soldiers keep vigil as Hindu pilgrims walk toward the Amarnath caves. Security has been tightened for thousands of Hindu pilgrims after recent guerrilla attacks on pilgrims and an army camp. Photo by AP
Fourteen civilians were hurt in a grenade blast at one of Indian Kashmir's busiest picnic spots as five people died in separatist violence and six were killed when Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire, officials said. Suspected Muslim militants hurled a hand grenade at a security patrol at the main market of Kokernag 70 kilometers (44 miles) south of Srinagar, but missed their target and it exploded among civilians, injuring 14, a police spokesman said on Monday. The explosion sparked panic in the Kokernag garden, where several thousand local residents and tourists from India were relaxing at the popular picnic spot. Four Muslim rebels, meanwhile, were shot dead by Indian security forces in the Khumriyal area of the northwestern Kupwara district, which borders Pakistani-administered Kashmir.