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Blast in Kashmir on India independence day | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) -A grenade exploded near a stadium in Indian Kashmir”s main city of Srinagar on Monday before the start of a ceremony to mark India”s independence anniversary, but police said there was nobody dead or wounded.

The grenade went off an hour before the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Mohammad Syed was due to attend the independence celebrations at the heavily guarded stadium.

Militants fighting Indian rule in Kashmir have frequently targeted independence day ceremonies and the main political separatist group the All Parties Hurriyat (freedom) Conference called for a general strike to mark the day.

India marks August 15 — the day it became free from British rule in 1947 — with parades, ceremonies and cultural events, with the main celebrations in New Delhi.