Suspected militants threw a grenade into the police headquarters of a southern Kashmiri town Tuesday wounding 18 policemen, an official said.

The grenade exploded on the lawns of the police building in Anantnag, 34 miles south of Srinagar, capital of Indian Kashmir. Anantnag is near the forest hideouts of Muslim militants fighting Indian rule in the territory.

Two Indian soldiers and two members of the Pakistan-based guerrilla group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, died in an overnight gunbattle in the neighboring area of Shopian, a police officer said.

Militant groups have said they will not observe a cease-fire agreed last week between India and Pakistan, which applies to the frontlines where their two armies face each other across the divided state.

Pakistan denies Indian allegations that it is sponsoring the 14-year revolt in Muslim majority Kashmir.

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