I hear those little red flowers on the hillsides are really pretty when they bloom. Everybody around wants to go out and pick them.
Posted on 05/27/2003 10:47:11 AM PDT by swarthyguy
RAJOURI, May 26: In yet another massacre—the second during last 10 days—the militants gunned down all five members of a family including a couple and their three children and set their house on fire at village Seri Khwas in Koteranka area in Budhal, about 75 kms from here, late last night.
Police sources here said that a group of six to seven militants intruded into the house of a 30-year old Village Defence Committee (VDC) member Kesar Din son of Nawab Din in remote village Keri Khwas at about 2130 hours last night and shot dead all five family members.
Since there were no survivors in the family, police couldn’t say as to what happened prior to the killings. However, the neighbours told a police party that reached the spot this morning that they didn’t hear any cries, which indicated that the militants straightway killed the family members, then set their house on fire and escaped.
Six to eight cattle, which the family had, perished in the fire alongwith all household goods. The house was gutted, police said.
They identified the victims as Kesar Din, 30, his wife Raikia Bi, 26, and their three sons Mohd Kabir, 13, Raj Hussain, 8 and Mohd Shakeel, 5.
Police said the VDC member appeared to have exchanged firing with the militants before he was killed. This was evident from the fact that he had exhausted entire ammunition allotted to him.
A neighbour of the victims trekked about eight kms to reach Keri at 0600 hours in the morning and informed police about the incident. A police party from Keri and Koteranka rushed to the spot. SSP Rajouri Prithvi Raj Manhas and DySP Headquarters also left for the spot but reached there only this evening as they had to trek the hilly route area for more than three hours on foot.
Police said badly mutilated bodies of the civilians have been recovered from the house. Local people resented the killings. They lamented killings of the innocent civilians by the ultras by labeling them as informers of the security forces.
Police said the house had been reduced to ashes. Bodies of the civilians were buried this evening in the presence of police officers.
About 10 days back, the militants had gunned down six members of a family including four females at village Chowkian in Kot Dhara area. "Killings of the innocent civilians appeared to be an act in frustration by the militants as they were being forced to be on the run due to mounting pressure by the security forces in twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri", the sources said.
An intercept also revealed that the militants were being asked by their ‘commanders’ to kill the civilians so that the Indian Government backed out of its proposal for a dialogue with Pakistan.
Meanwhile, in a statement issued in Srinagar, Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, strongly condemning the killing of 5 members of a family by the militants, said the killing of innocent people was a deliberate attempt to vitiate the atmosphere of peace that had lately been discernible in the State.
"The killers of innocent people are enemies of peace," he said. The people of the State have wholeheartedly welcomed the positive change in the atmosphere, Mufti said, adding that this change in the situation was the target of those vested interests, who did not want to let peace to prevail in the State and were resorting to violence and bloodshed to achieve their ends.
The people’s yearning for ‘violence-free life’ would not be allowed to go waste and every effort to destabilize peace would be resolutely dealt with, he asserted.
The Chief Minister said the law enforcement agencies have been asked to firmly tackle the perpetrators of violence, while ensuring that no Human Rights Violation took place during their fight against militancy.
Condoling the loss of human life in yesterday’s massacre in Rajouri, he conveyed his heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family and assured them no effort would be spared to nab the killers and bring them to book.
Our Poonch correspondent adds: Security forces today gunned down three more militants at village Ban Jabran in Surankote tehsil while a Special Police Officer (SPO), who was injured in the operation overnight, succumbed to his injuries this morning taking both sides toll in the gun-battle to six.
Yesterday, army and police had killed two militants while their three associates had managed to slip into the forests. Official sources said the three militants were eliminated by the troops in wee hours of this morning.
A SPO Abdul Hamid, who was injured in the encounter, succumbed to his injuries this morning, the sources said.
Identity of the slain militants hasn’t been established so far. Two of them were believed to be the foreign mercenaries while the third one was a local. Three AK rifles with ammunition and two wireless sets were recovered from their possession.
Jihadis kill more of their fellow muslims, civilians or police.
Ah, eliminated...in this context, such a LOVELY word.
I hear those little red flowers on the hillsides are really pretty when they bloom. Everybody around wants to go out and pick them.
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