Jammu&Kashmir: 10 civilians injured in grenade attack

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) – At least 10 civilians were injured on Saturday in a grenade explosion in Jammu and Kashmir, said local media reported.

According to news agency Press Trust of India (PTI), militants hurled a grenade on a security check point outside the heavily guarded office of the District Magistrate in the city of Anantnag, 55 kilometers (34 miles) southeast of Srinagar, around 11 a.m. (0530GMT).

However, terrorists missed the target with the grenade exploding on the roadside, but left 10 people wounded.

The area has been cordoned off by security forces and a hunt was launched to nab the terrorists behind the attack, the PTI reported. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

This is the second attack in the Kashmir Valley after the government revoked special status of the state.

Jammu and Kashmir has been under a near-complete lockdown since the Indian government’s move on Aug. 5 to scrap the special status of Jammu and Kashmir.

Since then, the Indian government has blocked communication access and imposed restrictions on movement to thwart any protests in the region.

Several rights groups including the Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have repeatedly called on India to lift restrictions and release political detainees.

India said that 93% of the restrictions have been eased in the conflict-ridden region, a claim that Anadolu Agency could not independently verify.

- A disputed region

From 1954 until Aug. 5, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir had special provisions under which it enacted its own laws. The provisions also protected the region's citizenship law, which barred outsiders from settling in and owning land in the territory.

India and Pakistan both hold Kashmir in parts and claim it in full. China also controls part of the contested region, but it is India and Pakistan who have fought two wars over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights groups, thousands of people have been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.