Civilian shot dead, house of NC leader attacked in Kashmir

Suspected militants killed a woman and injured another in south Kashmir on Sunday afternoon, hours after security forces gunned down a militant in the Valley’s north.

“Militants shot at two women at Seer village in Tral. One Yasmeena succumbed to her injuries while the other, identified as Ruby, is undergoing treatment,” a senior police officer said. Police suspect the role of Jaish-e-Mohammad in the attack, while investigation into the motive was currently on.

On the heels of this killing, militants hurled a grenade at the house of an ex-MLA of the National Conference (NC) Gulam Nabi Bhatt in Tral. Police confirmed the incident and said a manhunt has been launched.

The grenade attack comes at a time of routine attacks on the houses of ground level political workers in Kashmir. Last week, a PDP worker was killed by a group of suspected militants, one of whom was also killed when his colleague opened fire. The next day, a mob of over 200 burnt down his house probably blaming his family members for the death of the militant.

"Spate of attacks on mainstream political leaders and workers in Kashmir is alarming, threatens the existence of the democratic system in J&K," tweeted Junaid Azim Mattu, a spokesperson of the NC.

The two incidents in Tral came hours after a militant was gunned down by forces in north Kashmir's Langate area early in the morning. "Contact was established at 5am and one terrorist was killed. One weapon has also been recovered and operation continues," an army spokesperson said.

At around 11am, Pakistan violated ceasefire along the LoC in Uri sector. The army spokesperson said Indian forces were “retaliating strongly”.

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