Jammu-Kashmir Jihad Update: “At least 22 Hindus massacred in Kashmir,” from Reuters, with thanks to Ruth King:
JAMMU, India (Reuters) – Suspected Islamic militants [that is, mujahedin — RS] shot dead at least 22 Hindus in two small villages in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday, officials said.
The massacre, one of the biggest in recent months, took place just days before Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holds talks with Kashmiri separatists in New Delhi and later travels to the violent region for a “roundtable” conference with Kashmiris.
Militants struck the remote Hindu-dominated mountainous villages in Doda district, some 170 km (100 miles) northeast of Jammu, Kashmir’s winter capital, early on Monday, police said.
No militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in which nine people were wounded, five critically.
“They (the villagers) were asked to assemble outside the house of the village head and later shot dead by the militants,” Gulzar Ahmed Qureshi, a top Doda official, told Reuters.
“Yes, they are all Hindus,” he added. “This is an unfortunate incident when things were looking up for peaceful days ahead.”
Maybe these “militants” don’t want peace — except that peace which will follow their total victory.
UPDATE: The death toll is now up to 35. (BBC link thanks to JE.)