Twenty-four people, including 10 children, were injured when a powerful grenade went off outside two schools in the heart of Srinagar. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

     NEW DELHI, May 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Twenty-four people, including 10 children, were injured when a powerful grenade went off outside two schools in the heart of Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian-administered Kashmir on Thursday.

    Indo-Asian News Service quoted local police as saying that the grenade lobbed by guerrillas exploded at the city center of Lal Chowk just as school buses were picking up children from Tyndale Biscoe Memorial School for Boys and Mallinsons Girls' Secondary School. Earlier reports said 16 were injured.

    The intended target was a vehicle of the security forces that passed by the school just after it closed for the day.

    "The grenade missed the target and exploded outside the main gate of Tyndale Biscoe Memorial School, injuring 24 people including 10 boys and girls of the two Christian missionary schools," said a police officer.

    No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

    Ambulances with their sirens wailing were seen rushing the wounded to hospitals even as shops in the area shut down and hundreds of shoppers and commuters ran for cover.

    Anxious parents rushed to the schools, two of the most prestigious educational institutions in Srinagar, to pick up theirchildren.

    Traffic on the main roads in and around Lal Chowk came to an abrupt halt after vehicles rushed away from the site of the blast.

    On Wednesday, there was an explosion in Srinagar which killed one and wounded more than 40 people. Enditem