Migrant worker killed in Kashmir militant attack

By Nusrat Sidiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir (AA) - A non-local Indian migrant worker was fatally shot by suspected militants in Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday, according to regional police.

The police said on X that "terrorists fired upon a laborer" in the Tumchi Nowpora area of southern Pulwama district.

The injured laborer, identified as Mukesh and a resident of the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, later succumbed to his injuries. This marks the first such killing this year, records indicate.

This incident follows another militant attack in the last 24 hours, where a police officer named Masroor Ahmad Wani was fired upon by militants in the capital, Srinagar, on Sunday evening while playing cricket. Wani was critically injured and taken to the hospital for treatment.

Addressing the recent militant attack, regional police chief Dilbagh Singh stated on Monday that the force "can’t take things lightly and has to remain cautious as threats continue to remain."

In July, three non-local construction workers from the Indian state of Bihar were injured when militants fired on them at Gagran village of southern Kashmir’s Shopian district.

Last year, 10 non-local workers, including a bank manager from Rajasthan and a teacher, were killed and over a dozen injured in a series of militant attacks, mostly in southern Kashmir.

Meanwhile, a suspected militant was killed along the Line of Control (LoC), which divides the disputed region into two, on Monday, police said.

Last week five militants were also killed in a gunfight along the LoC.

As per police sources, over 50 militants have been killed this year, mostly foreigners.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since India and Pakistan were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.