MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, Dec 17 (AFP) - At least 10 people were killed and 17 injured Friday when a powerful bomb exploded in a town in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, police and residents said.
The bomb went off close to a crowd watching a street entertainer in the town of Islamgargh in southern Kashmir, they said. The dead and injured included several children, they said. Six of the injured were in serious condition, hospital sources said.
Residents said the explosion caused damage to nearby buildings and shops, including a hotel.
The head of the administration in Pakistani Kashmir, Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry, charged India with engineering the "cowardly" act.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over the Himalayan state of Kashmir since their independence in 1947.
"It is a cowardly act of the enemy in a bid to frighten the people here and weaken their will to support the freedom struggle in Indian-occupied Kashmir," Chaudhry said. "But the people are solidly with their freedom-seeking brethren across the ceasefire line in Kashmir," he vowed. Chaudhry said he had ordered an inquiry into the incident.
Muslim mujahideen on the Indian side of the state have waged a violent independence campaign since 1989.
Six people were injured on Tuesday when a bomb ripped through a bus in Rawalakot, also on the Pakistan-side of southern Kashmir.
The bomb might be retaliation by militant Hindus against successful mujahideen commando operations against Indian forces in the past days.
