Seven people, including a minister's relative and a prominent former Muslim militant, have been killed in separatist-linked violence in Kashmir, a police official said Tuesday.
Militants of Kashmir's leading Hizbul Mujahideen rebel outfit attacked members of a pro-India group named Ikhwan, at a village about 30 kilometers (18 miles) north of the state summer capital, Srinagar, a police spokesman said.
Wafadar Khan, a top activist of the group, comprising former separatist rebels, died in the attack and another was injured, a police official said.
Ikhwan activists returned fire killing a Hizbul militant.
The official said armed militants shot dead Abdul Razak Itoo, the uncle of Kashmir's social welfare minister Sakina Itoo, late Monday in the southern district of Anantnag.
Another three people were gunned down by suspected militants in separate incidents near the town of Bandipora, some 60 kilometers (37 miles) north of Srinagar.
A police officer was killed and another injured in a bomb explosion outside a high secondary school in a village in the northern district of Kupwara, police said.
Indian security troops implemented a unilateral cease-fire in Kashmir three weeks ago for the holy Islamic month of Ramadan.
Most guerrilla outfits, including the Hizbul Mujahideen, rejected Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's truce initiative as a propaganda ploy -- SRINAGAR (AFP)
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