Five Indian troops and 13 Islamic guerrillas have been killed in a fresh outburst of separatist violence in the disputed northern Indian state of Kashmir.
Witnesses say the impact of the blast was heard two kilometres away.
Police say security forces sent in reinforcements who cordoned off the area and launched a search for those behind the blast. So far none of Kashmir's two dozen Islamic guerrilla organisations have claimed responsibility for the attack. In a separate incident, an Indian defence ministry spokesman said 11 suspected Islamic separatist guerrillas were killed in a fierce gunbattle in the southern Kashmiri district of Poonch. The ministry says the militants opened fire when Indian soldiers ringed their hideout in a forest in the Surankot sector.