Global General

Blast kills religious leader in Indian Kashmir

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-08 16:57

A Kashmiri man clears broken glass and debris inside a mosque after an explosion outside the mosque in Srinagar April 8, 2011. The explosion was caused by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). [Photo/Agencies]

SRINAGAR, India- A blast outside a mosque in the India-controlled Kashmir on Friday killed a prominent Muslim religious leader, police said.

Moulvi Showkat Ahmed Shah, the president of the religious group Jamiat-e-ahle Hadith, was heading to the mosque in Srinagar to lead Friday prayers when he was caught in the explosion, police said. At least two other people were wounded in the blast.

Shah was taken to a hospital where he was declared dead, police said.

No rebel group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Since 1989, more than a dozen Islamic militant groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with neighboring Pakistan.