A soldier looks at the wreckage of the military vehicle after the attack. (Reuters)

Srinagar, July 20: A suicide bomber rammed his car into an army jeep in Srinagar’s highest-security zone this morning, killing three soldiers and a civilian.

The bomb went off around 9.30 am near the missionary Burn Hall School, but no children were injured.

“It seemed the earth was going to split. First there was a sound, followed by a tremor as the ground beneath my feet seemed to shake. As I looked around, I saw dust and brick and mortar flying around,” an eyewitness said.

At the site, soldiers picked up the bodies of their dead comrades ? one of them was a Major and two were jawans ? and carried them away.

The bomber’s Maruti was blown apart, the white military jeep he attacked left badly mangled.

A civilian driving a scooter was also killed, his vehicle lying on its side near the jeep. Bloodstains marked the road, which was carpeted by hundreds of green leaves from towering Chinar trees, shaken down by the blast.

Kashmir inspector-general of police Javed Ahmad Mukhdoomi said a suicide bomber had driven his car into an army jeep in the Sonawar area. The body of the bomber has not been found, triggering speculation that the bomb might have been planted in a parked vehicle.

However, Mukhdoomi said it was likely that he had been blown to bits. The police are investigating.

Shattered branches of Chinar and pieces of brick and mortar lay intermingled with human flesh at the site, where 24-hour vigil by security forces has been the norm for 16 years.

The area is home to many ministers, the high court chief justice and several judges, the state police chief and Opposition leaders Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah. The state’s cricket stadium is also located here.

A three-storeyed building housing the offices of the Life Insurance Corporation of India suffered a lot of damage.

Fifteen people received splinter wounds in the attack. Of them, four armymen are undergoing treatment at the Base Hospital inside the 15 Corps Headquarters. The other injured have been admitted to various city hospitals. The condition of one woman is critical, Mukhdoomi said.

“It was loud, the ground shook,” said Azad Ahmed Khan as he was carried on a stretcher to a trauma ward, one side of his face covered with blood. “Something hit my face.”

A teenage girl whose mother was wounded beat her chest outside the crowded hospital ward, angry at those responsible. “Let God’s wrath punish you,” she shouted in Kashmiri with tears in her eyes.

Militant group Hizbul Mujahideen phoned a local news agency to claim responsibility for the attack.

“It was a suicide attack aimed against security forces and occurred some distance away from the school entrance near road crossing. All the schoolchildren and staff inside the Burn Hall School are safe,” Mukhdoomi said, rejecting suggestions that the missionary school 50 metres away could have been the target.

Glass inside the school building was shattered by the impact of the blast, triggering panic among the children, a member of the staff said.

Parents rushed to the school to ask about their children. The school put up a sign on its closed gate reading: “All students are safe.”

“Whoever is behind the blast was not bothered about human life,” director-general of police, Gopal Sharma, said. “Hundreds of children play here on this road.”