A roadside bomb set off by suspected separatist rebels ripped through a bus in a remote village in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing at least five people and wounding eight others, police said Wednesday.
K. Rajendra, a top state police officer, said the homemade bomb exploded Tuesday near Marah, a mountainous village 105 miles (170 kilometers) southwest of Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir.
The bus was apparently targeted because some village defense committee members were traveling on it, he said. The committee is an armed militia set up by the state government to help in counterinsurgency operations.
Rajendra said five of the injured people were in critical condition.
A local newspaper, Greater Kashmir, said a Kashmiri rebel group named Lashkar-e-Taiba claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, both of which claim it in its entirety and have fought two wars over its control. Guerrilla groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan since 1989.
More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the militants. Pakistan denies the charge, saying it only gives moral and diplomatic support to the rebels.
