SRINAGAR, April 12: Eight people were killed and 55 others injured in fresh violence in occupied Kashmir on Saturday.

One person was killed and 55 injured in three grenade explosions in three towns of Anantnag district, police said.

The injured included two Indian army soldiers, and two members of a pro-India militant group, the Ikhwan, police said.

Indian troops claimed killing Qamar-ul-Zaman, the communications chief of the Hizbul Mujahideen in the village of Shadimarg, Pulwama district.

Mr Zaman was also the deputy divisional commander of Hizb.

Police described Zaman’s death as “another major blow” to Hizb, which lost its chief commander, Saif-ul-Islam, during a shootout in Srinagar on April 2.

In the same district, a Kashmiri Muslim was abducted by unidentified gunmen and his bullet-riddled body was found later.

Indian forces claimed killing two militants along the Line of Control on Friday night.

A spokesman said Indian troops patrolling the LoC killed the two militants in the Poonch district.

Three more militants were killed in an encounter in Doda district, he added.

Three Muslim civilians were injured in a bomb explosion in Poonch district, police said. —AFP