Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan and riven by unrest since the end of British rule in 1947 The attack happened near the main city of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir SRINAGAR: At least 25 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in the deadliest attack on government forces there since 2002, police said. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence. Rebels have been fighting for an independent Kashmir, or a merger with Pakistan, for 30 years. The attack, surpassing one in 2016 when 19 soldiers died, saw an explosion rip through buses in a convoy of 78 vehicles carrying some 2,500 members of the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), police said. Two blue buses carrying around 35 people each bore the brunt of the explosion around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the main city of Srinagar on the main highway towards Jammu. "Given the condition of the vehicles hit, the toll could get much higher," a senior police official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency reported that at least 39 people were dead. Some of the bodies were so badly blown up that officials feel it may take some time to identity them, PTI reported. The explosion was heard up to 12 kilometres away, it said. Police said that it was an improvised explosive device (IED) while the CRPF said that the explosives were inside a car. Media reports said the explosive-laden vehicle was driven into the convoy. "It was a powerful explosion. The explosive was car-borne," CRPF spokesman Sanjay Kumar told AFP. Speaking on condition of anonymity, another CRPF official said at least 29 troops were injured in the blast, which damaged a number of vehicles in the convoy. Unconfirmed photos showed the charred remains of at least one vehicle littered across the highway as black smoke billowed upwards. Reports said that there were 350 kilos (770 pounds) of explosives used. Local media reports said the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed group had claimed responsibility. A spokesman for the group told a local news agency that the "suicide attack" was carried out by Aadil Ahmad, alias Waqas Commando, a known militant from the area. The last major car bombing, which killed 40 people including three suicide attackers, was also carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed, in 2001. The target of that attack was the local parliament building in Srinagar.