10 injured in blast in India-administered Kashmir

At least 10 people were injured in a grenade blast near a government building in India-administered Kashmir on Saturday, police said.

Director General of Police Dilbagh Singh said the blast was caused by a "militant attack" and occurred near the office of a civil administrator in southern Anantnag town.

He said that the injured included a police official and a journalist, and that all of the injuries were minor.

"It was a militant attack," he said without elaborating. "Police are probing to identify and nab the culprit."

No other details were immediately available.

The conflict over Kashmir began in late 1940s, when India and Pakistan won independence from the British empire and began fighting over their rival claims.

In August, New Delhi stripped the region of its semi-autonomous powers and implemented a strict clampdown, detaining thousands of people. It also has shut down mobile and internet services.

A full-blown armed rebellion has raged in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989 seeking a united Kashmir — either under Pakistani rule or independent of both countries.

About 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and an Indian military crackdown. India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the rebels, a charge Islamabad denies.

Many people in Kashmir have been seething since India stripped its portion of the Muslim-majority region of autonomy on Aug. 5, shutting off phone networks and imposing Curfew-like restrictions in some areas to dampen discontent.

Some of those curbs have been slowly relaxed, but mobile and internet communications in the Kashmir valley are largely still blocked.

Agencies