woman killed and about 20 injured in Kashmir highway blast

Srinagar, Apr 28 (UNI) A woman was killed and at least 20 others were wounded in a grenade blast at Pampore on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway this afternoon.

A police spokesman said militants hurled a hand grenade towards a security force roadside bunket at crowded Drangbal, Pampore, about 14 km from here, in the south Kashmir district of Pulwama.

However, the grenade missed the intended target and exploded on the roadside causing on the spot death of one Fareeda, a resident of Tral.

He said so far ten injured had been admitted to various hospitals here.

Official sources said at least 20 others, including some children, were wounded in the blast.

The injured were admitted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences at Soura, Bone and Joint hospital at Barzulla and SMHS.

A UNI correspondent was told by an eyewitness that the vehicle carrying the employees of the state government from winter capital Jammu to summer capital Srinagar had crossed the area about half an hour earlier.

The eyewitness said the target was workers of a politcal party who were returning after attending a rally here. However, this was not confirmed officially. The civil secretariat, seat of the government, and other Darbar move offices were closed at Jammu yesterday and will reopen here on May 7. Yesterday, security forces averted a major tragedy when they detected and defused a 10-kg powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by militants beneath a culvert to target a security force convoy.

UNI