Grenade Attack, Gun Battles Kill 9 in India’s Kashmir State

Nine people were killed in separate incidents of violence in the strife-torn northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, police said Thursday.

Three state government officials were killed Thursday when suspected militants threw grenades at a government building in Srinagar, the summer capital of the state. Eight people were injured, police said in a statement.

The tightly guarded civil secretariat building houses the offices of all state ministers, including the chief minister and senior officials. More than 1,500 people work there.

An official said the grenades exploded near the main gate of the building. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was the second attack on the building in a month.

Police said four militants and a member of the Indian security force were killed Wednesday in three gun battles in the state. One civilian also was shot dead by militants, police said.

Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi’s rule in India’s only Muslim-majority state. More than 25,000 people have been killed in nearly a decade of rebellion in Kashmir.