SRINAGAR, India, Aug 11 (Reuters) - At least two dozen people, including 15 army personnel, were injured on Saturday when a huge fire broke out at an ammunition depot of the Indian army in Kashmir, officials and witnesses said.

About 10,000 people from neighbouring villages were evacuated as shells and splinters ripped through the area in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.

The cause of the fire was being investigated but two militant groups, including the most prominent Hizbul Mujahideen group, telephoned a local news agency and claimed responsibility for torching the depot.

But army spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel A.K. Mathur denied it was a militant attack.

"There are some casualties, we are ascertaining the facts," he said. "Massive efforts are continuing to control the blaze."

Police vehicles fitted with loudspeakers patrolled the area asking people to leave as massive clouds of smoke from the highly-secured depot streaked into the sky, witnesses said.

One of the world's most militarised zones, Kashmir is in the grips of an anti-India revolt in which more than 42,000 people have been killed since it began in 1989, according to officials.

Human rights groups put the toll at about 60,000 dead or missing.

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