19 Mar 2006 11:44:15 GMT,Source: Reuters

SRINAGAR, India, March 19 (Reuters) – An Indian soldier was killed and six others wounded on Sunday when suspected separatist guerrillas hurled a grenade at a security bunker outside a bank in Kashmir, authorities said.

"The grenade exploded inside the sand bag bunker, killing a BSF (Border Security Force) personnel on the spot," a BSF spokesman said.

He said the soldiers were guarding a bank in Sopore town, north of Srinagar, summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir state.

Militants also threw a grenade at a police patrol elsewhere in Sopore but it exploded without wounding anyone.

No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed since a separatist revolt broke out in 1989 in Jammu and Kashmir, mainly Hindu India’s only Muslim-majority state.

Separatist violence in Kashmir is not as bad as it used to be but continues despite a slow peace process between India and Pakistan, who have fought two wars over the divided Himalayan region.

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