SRINAGAR, India - Suspected Islamic insurgents fired at government forces and lobbed a hand grenade into a crowded shopping area in the Indian part of Kashmir on Monday, killing two paramilitary soldiers and wounding seven people.
Two soldiers patrolling the downtown area of Lal Chowk in the main city of Srinagar were shot at point-blank range and died shortly after they were hospitalized with serious head injuries, said Prabhakar Tripathi, the spokesman for the Central Reserve Police Force.
Minutes later, a hand grenade was hurled at another paramilitary patrol in the Batmaloo area of Srinagar, said Hemant Lohia, a deputy inspector-general of police.
That attack wounded five civilians and two paramilitary soldiers, Lohia said. The seven were taken to a hospital, but the nature of their injuries was not immediately known.
The suspected rebels escaped after the attacks, police said.
Nearly a dozen insurgent groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with neighbouring Pakistan since 1989. They attack government forces as part of their campaign against Indian rule.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, which both claim in its entirety. The longtime rivals have fought two wars over control of the Himalayan territory since they won independence from Britain in 1947.
