SRINAGAR, July 18: One person was killed and 16 people were injured in a hand-grenade attack in the occupied Kashmir on Tuesday, police said. A senior police officer, Farooq Ahmed, said that suspected militants threw the grenade at a crowded makeshift market at Baltal that was a camp for thousands of Hindus at the start of their pilgrimage to Amarnath shrine.

The injured were shifted to a Srinagar hospital. Seven of them were in critical condition.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, a suspected militant was killed on Wednesday during a gun battle with Indian soldiers in occupied Kashmir. A woman was also killed in crossfire, police said.

A police spokesman claimed that the militant, Abu Umar, was the all-India coordinator of Lashkar-e-Toiba. He said: “Abu Umar was wanted in many militancy-related cases. His death is a big success for security forces.”

The spokesman said Umar had been active in occupied Kashmir for the past eight years and was allegedly involved in the murder of a senior police officer.

—Agencies