35 killed in Kashmir ahead of talks

Suspected Islamic militants shot dead at least 35 Hindus in Indian-administered Kashmir ahead of crucial talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Kashmiri separatists, officials and police said yesterday.

In one of the bloodiest massacres in recent months, militants struck two remote Hindu-dominated mountainous villages in Doda district, some 170 km northeast of Jammu, Kashmir's winter capital, early yesterday, and gunned down 22 Hindus.

On the same day, bullet-ridden bodies of nine Hindus were recovered from neighbouring Udhampur district. Police said the dead were Hindu cattle herdsmen reportedly kidnapped by suspected militants late on Sunday.

Four of them were found dead on Sunday itself.

No militant group claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Prime Minister Singh, who is due to meet Kashmiri separatists tomorrow and would travel to the violent region later this month for a Kashmir "roundtable", condemned the attack.

"People of Kashmir have rejected and rebuffed terrorists repeatedly," Mr Singh said.

Witnesses of the Doda attack told a chilling story of a midnight knock followed by bursts of gunshots.