At least 35 people including six children were injured in an attack by suspected Muslim militants in India-administered Kashmir on Friday, officials said.
The explosion occurred near a school in the Banihal town located some 160 kilometres north of winter capital Jammu, reported dpa.
"The militants lobbed a grenade at a Central Reserve Police Force patrol team near the school. There was complete chaos at the scene as children and people ran for safety crying and screaming in fear," police official Hemant Kumar Lohia said.
"Besides six girl students who were waiting to catch their school bus home, four paramilitary police and civilians were wounded in the attack," he said.
Security forces and local police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the hospital.
"Among the injured, doctors said four people including three CRPF men and a civilian were in a critically injured," Lohia added.
He said additional police teams were deployed in the area following the incident. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kashmir has been at the root of tense relations between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947.
An estimated 40,000 people, including civilians, militants and security personnel, have been killed in political violence in Indian- administered Kashmir since 1990.
India accuses Pakistan of aiding and abetting Kashmiri secessionist militants. Pakistan denies the allegations, saying the Kashmiri militants are local freedom fighters.