A grenade attack wounded eight people during a protest Monday over the disappearance of a man who demonstrators say was taken by security forces in Indian Kashmir.
As hundreds of protesters took to the streets, someone in the crowd hurled a hand grenade at police and it exploded, wounding four officers and four demonstrators, senior police official Aafad-ul-Mujataba told The Associated Press.
All of the wounded were hospitalized and two were in serious condition, he said.
The attack occurred close to the center of Srinagar, the main city in India's portion of Kashmir.
The 22-year-old Kashmiri man went missing in Srinagar on Friday and the protesters accused security forces of taking him into custody. Officials have denied any responsibility in his disappearance.
It was the latest violent protest to rock the region.
Late last month, Indian security forces opened fire and lobbed tear gas to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing pro-independence demonstrators, killing two and injuring 10 others in Baramullah town, 35 miles (55 kilometers) north of Srinagar.
Anti-India protests also erupted after the bodies of a 17-year-old girl and her 22-year-old sister-in-law were found in a shallow stream in May. Residents of the area accused Indian soldiers of raping and killing the women.
Two people were killed and more than 400 injured during clashes between demonstrators and police, mainly in Shopian, a town 35 miles (60 kilometers) south of Srinagar, where the women's bodies were found.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in predominantly Muslim Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed in its entirety by both. The South Asian neighbors have fought two of three wars over the Himalayan region since independence from Britain in 1947.
Nearly a dozen rebel groups have fought for Indian Kashmir's independence or its merger with Pakistan since 1989. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed.
