Jammu, January 21
Eleven civilians, including eight children and a woman, were killed when militants entered Moda Kund village in the Mendhar area of Poonch late last night and opened indiscriminate fire on members of two families. While eight died on the spot, three succumbed to their injuries. Three others are still in a critical condition in hospital.
According to the police, unidentified gunmen wearing Army fatigues opened fire when villagers were about to sleep after taking their dinner.
The police said those killed had been identified as Zakir Hussain (40), Abid Hussain (2), Rubiya (3), Khatima Bi (35), Mohammad Mahboob (10), Mohammad Yasir (12), and three children who had yet to be identified.
The militants shot dead Zakir Hussain and his son and daughter, both aged below two years, a police spokesman said.
The militants then attacked the house of Mohammad Zaman, a soldier in the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry, and gunned down his wife Khatima Bi, and their four children daughter Gulnaz and sons Mohammad Issac, Mohammad Mehfoz and Mohammad Yasir all in the age group of two to 12 years.
The militants also attacked the family of Mohammad Akram, killing his three-year-old daughter Rubina and six-month-old son Islaq.
Besides, the militants also killed Maqsood Ahmed, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, and kidnapped an SPO, Mohammad Nazir, from the village.
The security forces have been rushed to the village and the entire area has been cordoned off. A large number of people belonging to both communities gathered in the village and raised slogans against the militants and the state government for its failure to check massacre after massacre of innocent people.
Eyewitness accounts said after the troops were withdrawn from the interiors of Poonch and Rajouri districts for deployment on the border, several areas in militancy-affected belts remained without any security cover. The state government had asked the Central Government to send additional companies of paramilitary forces for providing security cover to grey areas but so far only 20 companies of the CRPF had been sent.
Senior police officers have
rushed to the spot to assess the situation. The Governor, the Chief Minister and several political leaders have condemned the carnage.
The APHC on Monday condemned the massacre and demanded an international inquiry into the incident.
It is an act against humanity. Killing of innocent Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs or those belonging to
other religions is a dastardly act and should be strongly condemned, senior Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani said here before leaving for Srinagar.Meanwhile, the security forces killed seven militants, including a self-styled battalion commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen, in the Jammu and Kashmir overnight.
An official spokesman said the Army and Special Operation Group of the Jammu and Kashmir police killed Hizbul Mujahideen battalion commander Ghulam Mohammad Ganai, alias Chota Gul, at Hatipora Rafiabad in Baramula district in the wee hours today.
He said the security forces killed two militants each at Batapora Shopian and Mattan while another was gunned down by the BSF at Kulgam. One militant was killed in an encounter with the security forces at Thoru in Udhampur district. A police constable, Mir Chand, also lost his life in the encounter.
A woman, Sidiq Bibi, was killed in cross-firing between the militants and the security forces in Ghambir Mughlan in Rajouri district overnight, he said.
