Two suspected Muslim rebels attacked a crowded railway station in Indian Kashmir today, killing four security men and wounding at least 12 people before being killed themselves.
Hundreds of passengers were in the Jammu station at the time of the evening attack. Police surrounded the station and began evacuating it.
The attack came on the eve of a rare trip to Pakistan by Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee for a South Asian summit. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.
It was the latest of almost daily attacks by separatist rebels who have been fighting Indian rule in the Muslim-majority state since 1989 in a rebellion that has killed more than 40,000 people.
Indian accuses Muslim Pakistan of backing the rebels. Pakistan denies it foments violence and has repeatedly called for talks to resolve the dispute.
But India has ruled out bilateral talks, saying Pakistan must stop supporting the guerrillas.
Ties between the South Asian rivals, who nearly went to war over Kashmir in 2002, have warmed in recent months and they have agreed to a truce in the Himalayan region. But the rebels have ignored the ceasefire.
India, which holds 45 per cent of the region of snow-capped mountains and icy blue lakes, considers it an integral part of the country.
Pakistan, which controls a third of Kashmir, had long demanded implementation of a 1948 UN resolution for a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the people, although its leader recently offered to set aside that demand.