SRINAGAR, June 24: Nine Indian soldiers were killed and 17 others wounded when a powerful car bomb exploded on Friday as a bus carrying troops drove past a popular tourist attraction in occupied Kashmir, officials said.

The explosion ripped the bus apart and shook the famed Mughal gardens on the shores of lake Dal in Srinagar at about 4pm (10:30 GMT), a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said explosives were placed in a car and they detonated as a military convoy passed by. The bus carrying the soldiers bore the full brunt of the blast.

The soldiers were heading back to their units after their annual holidays, army spokesman Vijay Batra told AFP. They had been travelling from Jammu.

Mr Batra said three soldiers died on the spot, while three died in hospital. Three of the five seriously wounded soldiers died late Friday, he added.

The region’s dominant militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, which wants Kashmir merged into Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the blast in a telephone call to local news agency Kashmir News Service.

The group on Tuesday rejected calls for a ceasefire in the troubled region and instead told militants to prepare for jihad.

The injured were taken to Srinagar’s army hospital where civilian doctors were called in to treat the wounded.

Residents said the bus smashed into electricity pylons and telephone polls after being struck by the car bomb. The force of the blast sent parts of the bus flying up to 100 meters away.

Bus seats were spattered with blood while the belongings of the soldiers were scattered around the floor of the vehicle. Suitcases and rucksacks were sent flying into the road. Bits of flesh could be seen lying inside the damaged bus and on the road.

The area was swiftly sealed off by troops and more than two dozen youths were detained for questioning, a paramilitary officer said. The gardens are visited by hundreds of Indian tourists and locals daily.

“The blast shook the entire locality, bringing people out of their houses,” Nusrat Farooq, a local resident said.

The explosion triggered panic among tourists, many of whom were seen boarding their vehicles and leaving in a hurry.

On Tuesday Hizb commander Syed Salahuddin dismissed the ongoing peace process between India and Pakistan, which centres on the fate of Kashmir, as “a waste of time.”—AFP