Indian minister escapes grenade in Kashmir

Militants fired three grenades at a school in Indian Kashmir today, five minutes after a federal minister had left the premises…

Militants fired three grenades at a school in Indian Kashmir today, five minutes after a federal minister had left the premises, police said.

The Muslim guerrilla group, Hizbul Mujahideen, claimed responsibility for the attack.

A spokesman for the guerrilla group told reporters it had been targeting Mr Omar Abdullah, who is India's minister of state for industries and commerce and the son of Jammu and Kashmir's chief minister.

The incident came less than a week after India called off a six-month-old suspension of hostilities against militants in the insurgency-plagued state.

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Police said Mr Abdullah had inaugurated a computer centre at the school in Srinagar, summer capital of the Muslim-majority Indian state. Five minutes after he left, three grenades were fired, and two students were injured as two of them exploded.

Mr Abdullah's father, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah, survived a similar attempt on his life earlier this year.