SRINAGAR  - Ten Indian soldiers were killed and 25 others injured in a landmine blast Saturday in Occupied Kashmir. The attack was described as the deadliest since India and Pakistan started a peace process in January 2004. "We have a number of fatalities," Indian army spokeswoman Neha Goel said, adding that dozens others were hurt in the explosion in Narabal on the outskirts of Srinagar. A police officer confirmed 10 had died and 25 others were hurt when their bus drove over the mine. Hizbul Mujahedin claimed responsibility for the attack in a telephone call to the local Current News Service. "We have carried out the blast and killed more than 20 soldiers," a Hizbul Mujahedin spokesman claimed. The soldiers were travelling from Uri, near Line of Control, to the Indian army's main headquarters in Srinagar. The blast ripped through the military bus, turning it sideways, and shattered the windows of six other vehicles, witnesses said. The dead and injured were taken to the Indian army's main hospital in Srinagar. Goel said some of the injured were in a 'critical condition'. Soldiers and police later sealed off the area and launched searches to track down any attackers. The blast took place on a key highway and military supply route connecting Srinagar with the northern districts of Baramulla and Kupwara, areas of heavy army and militant activity. Although violence has declined since the peace process was launched, incidents have increased in recent months, including what the Indian army says is an increase in infiltrations from Pakistan. Early this month six Indian soldiers and 12 fighters were killed in a long-drawn gunbattle along the Line of Control. Saturday's explosion came a day after 32 people, including children and police officers, were hurt in a blast at a busy bus station in Banihal, south of Srinagar. The surge in violence also comes days after Kashmir was placed under federal rule following the collapse of the state government, which had sparked massive protests by agreeing to provide land to a Hindu pilgrim trust.