Four killed in Kashmir violence

Security has been stepped up after the attack

Four people have been killed in two separate attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir blamed on separatist militants.

A civilian has been killed and more than 30 others wounded in a grenade explosion in the town of Baramullah.

Police say militants were targeting a vehicle carrying Indian border police but it missed and hit the road instead.

Earlier, police said suspected separatist militants killed three people in the mountainous Rajouri district.

Officials said most of the victims of the grenade attack were patients waiting for treatment at a nearby hospital and their relatives.

"The hospital was abuzz with activity when the explosion took place," a police spokesman was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

"The hospital has been sealed off for searches," he said.

In the earlier attack, militants are said to have forced their way into the house of Mohammad Shafi on Sunday night and attacked his family.

Mr Shafi, his son and daughter were killed in the attack. His wife suffered serious wounds.

Police said militants suspected Mr Shafi was a police informer. No militant group has admitted to the attack.

It took place in a village some 180 kilometres north-west of the state's winter capital, Jammu.

In the past, militants have targeted members of the security forces and people they suspect of being police informers.

Militant separatists have been fighting Indian rule in Kashmir - which both Pakistan and India claim - since 1989.

Around 40,000 people have been killed since then.

But violence has decreased in Kashmir since a ceasefire between India and Pakistan last November.

The two nuclear neighbours have been holding peace talks since January this year.