Kashmir blast kills soldiers, family
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir (CNN) -- At least 29 people were killed and seven others wounded when Kashmiri militants bombed an Indian Border Security Force convoy in Kashmir, police in Jammu and Kashmir state told CNN.
Most of the dead in Sunday's blast were paramilitary soldiers.
One of Kashmir's main militant groups, Hizbul-Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to a local agency.
K. Rajendra, state inspector-general of police in Kashmir, said the militants are frustrated with Indian security forces, which have had recent successes against Hizbul-Mujahideen, including the recent killing of its top leader in Kashmir.
The soldiers were heading from Srinagar to the city of Jammu for vacation, traveling with several family members, when the roadside bomb hit the vehicle.
The dead include 17 soldiers, six of their wives, four children and two other civilians, police said.
The bus was so mangled that rescue and recovery workers had to use gas torches to cut the metal to remove the bodies.
Shortly after the blast, Indian police officials defused another explosive device planted below a culvert along the same highway. The highway remained closed as the rescue and recovery operation continued.
The impact of the blast also caused a private minibus to careen off a hillside on the other side of the highway, according to Rajendra, who was at the scene of the blast. Several civilians were believed to be injured.
The blast happened about 85 km (53 miles) south of Srinagar.
At least 29 people were killed when Kashmiri militants bombed an Indian Border Security Force convoy in Kashmir, police said.
From CNN Correspondent Ram Ramgopal in New Delhi and Producer Mukhtar Ahmed in Srinagar
