Carnage in Kashmir railway attack

Eleven people have died and more than 20 others have been injured after gunmen opened fire at a railway station in Indian-administered Kashmir, according to local police.

Three suspected Islamic militants, armed with automatic weapons and wearing Indian army uniforms, were said to have launched the attack at Jammu station at about 1600 local time (1430 GMT) on Tuesday.

They opened fire at those who had come to see off their relatives and at those who were waiting to receive people from the train

Police official

Police say the militants, who had been travelling on an express train, got off at the station and launched their attack.

Large crowds gathered outside the hospital where the injured are being treated - some people wanted to donate blood, while others shouted anti-Pakistan slogans.

An indefinite curfew has been imposed in Jammu to prevent Hindus carrying out revenge attacks on the city's Muslim residents.

A BBC correspondent in Delhi, Adam Mynott, says although the gunmen's target appeared to be Indian troops on board the train, the attackers also sprayed passengers with bullets.

"They opened fire at those who had come to see off their relatives and at those who were waiting to receive people from the train," a police official told French news agency AFP.

A senior police official told Reuters news agency that one of the militants, who was shot in an ensuing gun battle with soldiers, was among the 10 dead. The two other attackers are believed to have escaped.

No group has yet admitted responsibility for the attack.

Guerrilla war

About a dozen Kashmiri militant groups are fighting for independence from India, which controls about 45% of the region.

Violence in Indian-administered Kashmir has soared since a summit last month between India and Pakistan on the future of the territory ended without agreement.

There was an attempted bomb attack on Jammu station in the Hindu-dominated city six weeks ago, but correspondents say this is the first assault at the station by militia using weapons since secessionist troubles started 10 years ago.

Earlier on Tuesday, Indian police said they had shot dead the leader of a group of militants responsible for killing 15 Hindu shepherds in the Doda district of Kashmir on Friday.