Three politicians from India fatally shot in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India — Assailants shot and killed three politicians from India’s ruling party in Kashmir late Thursday, police said, blaming militants fighting against Indian rule in the disputed region.

Militants fired at the three members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, in southern Kulgam district, police said in a statement. The three were taken to a hospital, where they died, it said.

The party says they were members of the BJP’s youth wing and one was general secretary of the party’s Kulgam district. In a tweet, the BJP condemned the killings, calling them a “barbaric terror attack.”

“Those who are responsible for this will not be spared,” it said.

Government forces launched a search for the shooters, police said. Officials did not immediately reveal other details, and no rebel group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, and both claim the region in its entirety. Rebels have been fighting against Indian rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

The attack comes two days after India enacted laws allowing its citizens tobuy land in Kashmir, exacerbating concerns from residents and rights groups who see such measures as a way to change the demographics of the Muslim-majority region.