Eight killed in Kashmir

The killings continue despite ceasefire

Six civilians and two members of a suicide squad have been killed in a powerful explosion near a security camp in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Eleven Indian soldiers and four more civilians were injured in the explosion, which triggered a heavy exchange of fire in the town of Magam, 15 km north of Srinagar - the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir.

Reports say the militants wheeled an ice-cream cart into the security camp and then set off the explosives.

Police officers said grenades were found tied to the bodies of the militants.

Earlier, 10 people were killed in different incidents of separatist violence across Kashmir, police said.

Suicide squads have stepped up attacks on Indian security forces across the region since India announced an unilateral ceasefire last November.

Separatist movement

The ceasefire announcement has been rejected by the militant groups who described it as a move to influence international opinion.

Separately, India has also announced a peace initiative and appointed a senior government official to hold talks with the Kashmiri separatists.

But the talks have been rejected by leading separatists who want Pakistan to be included in the process.

Delhi says there is no room for Islamabad which it accuses of funding and supporting the militants.

Pakistan denies the charge and says it only offers moral and diplomatic support.

Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting Delhi's rule in Jammu and Kashmir where some 30,000 people have died in nearly 12 years of separatist rebellion.