Suspected Muslim militants have raided a village in Indian-administered Kashmir, slitting the throats of five Hindus, police have said. The attackers entered Dhoob village, 200km (125 miles) north-west of Jammu and segregated Muslims from Hindus before the killings, the police said. No group has yet said it carried out Thursday night's attack.
There are a number of Muslim militant groups in the region which have been fighting Indian rule since 1989.
Deputy inspector general of police for the remote and mountainous Rajouri district, VK Singh, told the BBC the dead men were aged between 40 and 60. They were forced to stand in separate lines before the Hindus were taken a few metres away and killed. Mr Singh said senior police officers had been sent to begin an investigation.
He said: "Killings such as these, by slitting throats, have increased for two reasons - they want to create terror and their supply lines of guns from across the border are coming under pressure from us." About 40,000 people have been killed in fighting between Indian security forces and militants in the region since 1989.
Violence has escalated after a period of relative calm following peace moves between India and Pakistan. The peace moves are aimed at ending decades of dispute over Kashmir - a region both countries claim in its entirety. India accuses Pakistan of sponsoring a violent uprising in Kashmir, a charge Islamabad denies. Pakistan says it has only given diplomatic support to militant groups in the past and has now taken steps to ensure they no longer have bases in the country. |