Terrorists kill 3 locals in Baramulla: Police

SRINAGAR: Suspected militants shot and killed three men in Baramulla, police said Tuesday, as the state observed a strike to protest the killing of two rebels and a civilian this week during counterinsurgency operation.

Three suspected insurgents fired at the three local men overnight in the main town of Baramulla, police said. The victims, ranging in age from 20 to 25, were shot at close range and died instantly.Baramulla is some 60 kilometers (37 miles) west of Srinagar.No rebel group has claimed responsibility for the deaths of the men.

Police officer Imtiyaz Husain said they were investigating the motive behind the killings but blamed the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba for the shootings.

On Tuesday, a few hundred relatives and neighbors offered joint funeral prayers for the three men before their subdued burial in Baramulla. As usual, the silence and submissive burial was a signal that militants were involved in the killings.

Locals said the three men had earlier been warned several times by rebels to sever contacts with the military.

Also on Tuesday, shops, schools and businesses shut across much of the Kashmir Valley to protest the killing of two Kashmiri rebels and a civilian.Armed police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear patrolled streets and enforced a curfew in some areas in old quarters of Srinagar. Security restrictions were also in place in some parts of volatile southern Kashmir.

The two rebels were killed and at least three soldiers wounded on Monday during intensified counterinsurgency operation in southern Kashmir. The civilian was killed and at least 14 others wounded when government forces fired at protesters who were trying to help rebels escape during the gunbattle.