SRINAGAR, India – A remote-controlled bomb hidden in a motorbike exploded as an Indian army convoy passed by on Saturday, killing two soldiers and wounding 27 others in troubled Kashmir (search), police said.
The motorbike was parked on a bridge near the town of Manasbal, about 20 miles northwest of Srinagar (search), summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, said Suhail Ahmed, a police officer.
One of the army trucks was blown from the bridge by the impact of the blast. "The truck caught fire and plunged into the river like a ball of fire," he said.
Two soldiers died on the scene and 27 were wounded, seven seriously, Ahmed said.
Police blamed separatist Islamic rebels for the attack in Indian-controlled Kashmir. None of the militant groups based there claimed responsibility.
Islamic militants have been fighting since 1989 for Muslim-majority Kashmir's independence from predominantly Hindu India, or its merger with mostly Muslim Pakistan. More than 65,000 people have died in the violence.
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