Rebels 'gun down 22' in Kashmir
From Mukhtar Ahmad
For CNN
Monday, May 1, 2006; Posted: 5:53 a.m. EDT (09:53 GMT)
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir (CNN) -- Suspected Islamic militants gunned down Hindu villagers in southern Kashmir, killing at least 22 and critically wounding eight others, a police official said.
The villagers were herded out of their homes early Sunday morning, where the gunmen started firing indiscriminately at them, S.P. Vaid, inspector-general of police in Jammu, said.
Among those gunned down was a nine-year-old girl, according to the Press Trust of India.
The massacre took place in the remote village of Kulhand, about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from Doda in southern Jammu and Kashmir.
Nearly 12 insurgent groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence, according to The Associated Press.
An anti-insurgency army unit has been deployed and is combing the area for the attackers, Vaid said.
It was the second attack targeting Hindus in the predominantly Muslim region over a matter of days.
On Saturday, eight Hindus were abducted in the neighboring district of Udhampur.
Four of their bodies had been found, Vaid said, while the others remained missing.
The attacks come days before Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is set to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders in New Delhi in an effort to find a solution to the decades-old Kashmir dispute.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over the disputed region of Kashmir, but they have been holding talks since 2004 to resolve it.
The two nations, which both claim Kashmir in its entirety, have been observing a cease-fire along the Line of Control dividing Kashmir between them since November 2003. |
