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10 Indian soldiers killed in IHK landmine blast

SRINAGAR: Ten Indian soldiers were killed and 16 injured on Saturday in a landmine blast in the disputed region of Kashmir, the army said.

“We have ten fatalities,” Indian Army spokeswoman Neha Goel said, adding that over a dozen others were hurt in the explosion in Narabal on the outskirts of Srinagar.

The blast ripped through the military bus, turning it sideways, and shattered the windows of six other vehicles, witnesses said. The dead and injured were moved to the Indian army’s main hospital in Srinagar. Goel said some of the injured were in a “critical condition”.

The attack was the second deadliest against the Indian armed forces since India and Pakistan started a peace process in January 2004.

A police officer confirmed ten had died and 16 others were hurt when their bus drove over the mine.

Militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the local Current News Service.

“We have carried out the blast and killed more than 20 soldiers,” a spokesman Ehsan Elahi claimed.

The soldiers were travelling from Uri, bordering the Pakistan-administered Kashmir, to the Indian Army’s headquarters in Srinagar.

The blast took place on a key highway and military supply route, connecting Srinagar with the northern districts of Baramulla and Kupwara, areas of heavy army and militant activity and both bordering Pakistani-controlled Kashmir.

Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan hold the scenic region in part but claim it in full, and have fought two wars over the region. agencies

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