At least 10 people were wounded in Kashmir on Thursday when suspected nationalist fighters hurled a grenade at a crowded crossing, the fourth such attack in the past 24 hours, police said. The latest attack came ahead of a visit to India and Pakistan this weekend by Secretary of State Colin Powell, aimed at calming tensions between the nuclear rivals over disputed Kashmir and nudge them toward peace talks.

Nationalist fighters assaults in Kashmir, where India blames Pakistan for stoking a rebellion against its rule, often escalate during or before trips to South Asia by diplomatic envoys.

The latest attack was at a busy crossing in the main city of Srinigar, the summer capital of Indian-ruled Kashmir, an Indian police official said.

"The target of the grenade was not known and more details are awaited," he said.

On Wednesday evening, a grenade was thrown at a telephone exchange in Ashmuqam in the Pahalgam Valley, on the route of an annual Hindu pilgrimage. The grenade did not cause any damage.

Some 12,000 security force personnel have been mobilized to protect thousands of pilgrims who visit the shrine of Lord Shiva, the Hindu god of destruction, during the month-long pilgrimage high into the mountains.

Also on Wednesday, 27 people, including seven security personnel, were wounded in two grenade attacks.

In the biggest recent assault, suspected Kashmiri nationalist fighters shot dead 28 Hindu slum-dwellers in the southern part of the state nearly two weeks ago.

To end the military standoff, India has demanded Pakistan honors a promise to halt nationalist fightersinfiltration across the line of control that divides Kashmir and to dismantle what it says are guerrilla bases in Pakistani Kashmir.

Pakistan says there are no militant infiltrations and is pushing for peace talks to resolve the thorny Kashmir dispute.

PHOTO CAPTION

An Indian policeman stands guard near a highway in the case of militant attacks as a convoy of Hindu pilgrims leaves to a holy cave from Jammu, winter capital of the northern State of Jammu and Kashmir, July 25, 2002.. Photo by Kamal Kishore/Reute