Sleeping children killed by militants
Islamic militants stormed a mountain village in Indian-controlled Kashmir, shooting dead three sleeping children, police said today.
Hours later, security forces killed five militants in a gun battle nearby. It was not clear if the dead militants were behind the killings of the children.
Eleven civilians have now been killed in a three-day burst of violence in India’s Jammu-Kashmir state, a region wracked by insurgency.
The children, aged between four and 12, were shot at close range on Saturday night in Bamrot, a village near the ceasefire line dividing Kashmir between rivals India and Pakistan, a police officer said.
Police blamed the killings on Islamic rebels fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or its merger with Pakistan.
