Militants kill 8, troops gun down 5 rebels in Kashmir

One of the civilian deaths was caused when suspected rebels tossed a grenade at paramilitary troops near the main hospital in Baramulla town, 55 kilometers (35 miles) north of the summer capital Srinagar, police said.

"The grenade exploded among the paramilitary men and civilian patients and attendants," a police spokesman said, adding that 30 people were injured in the blast.

"The hospital was abuzz with activity when the explosion took place," the spokesman said, adding two of the injured were with India's Border Security Force.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. The region's dominant rebel group Hizbul Mujahedin this month criticised attacks by rebels in crowded places and urged other groups to refrain from such actions.

Meanwhile, armed rebels barged into the house of a man named Mohammed Shafi in southern Rajouri district and beheaded him, police said. His son and daughter were also beheaded minutes after his killing.