SRINAGAR: A leading Muslim cleric and moderate separatist was killed Friday by a powerful explosion outside a mosque in revolt-hit Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.

Moulvi Shoukat Ahmad Shah was entering a mosque in Srinagar for Friday prayers when the blast occurred, leaving him critically injured, a police officer told AFP.

Shah, who had survived several previous attempts on his life, was rushed to hospital where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility but police blamed the killing on Islamic rebels fighting New Delhi's rule in the Himalayan territory.

Police said the killing had sparked tension in Srinagar, summer capital of Kashmir and known as the urban hub of the rebel movement.

Police said the nature of the blast was not yet known.

“We're investigating whether the blast was caused by a grenade or an improvised explosive device planted near the mosque entrance,” the officer said, asking that his name not be used.

Shah was regarded by observers in Kashmir as a moderate separatist leader and was close to Yaseen Malik, head of the pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.

Shah is the second high-profile moderate separatist to be killed in the past decade in Kashmir, where an insurgency has been underway against Indian rule for more than two decades.