Kashmir militants kill politician, five others
SRINAGAR, India, Jan 16: Muslim guerrillas shot dead a pro-India Muslim politician, three of his family members and a policeman in the troubled Indian state of Kashmir, officials said today, reports AFP.
A former militant now working with Indian security forces was also killed by the guerrillas elsewhere in the Himalayan state. All killings occurred late Saturday, a police spokesman said.
Muslim militants armed with AK-47 assault rifles stormed into the home of Ghulam Qadir Bhat, a top leader of Kashmir's ruling National Conference party, near Awantipura town, 30 km south of here.
They first shot dead one of Bhat's five police bodyguards, then entered the house and gunned down Bhat, who was popularly known as Hindustani, and three family members from close range.
The other police guards fought a brief gunbattle with the attackers, wounding one of them. However the wounded militant was taken away by the other retreating guerrillas.
Indian police and paramilitary forces immediately launched a massive combing operation in the region to track down the killers, the spokesman said.
No further details were immediately available.
Also overnight, another group of Muslim militants shot dead a former militant, Ghulam Qadir Hoora, who belonged to a group which assists the Indian security forces in their campaign against Muslim separatists.
The killing took place at Hoora's house at a village near Sonwari town in northern Kashmir. Three unidentified civilians were also wounded in the attack. The killers escaped.
More than 24,000 people have died in a bloody Muslim separatist campaign raging in Kashmir since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the militants. Islamabad denies this, but gives open support to the unrest.
India and Pakistan dispute Kashmir's ownership and control parts of the picturesque state. The two countries have fought two of their wars since their independence in 1947 over Kashmir.
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