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Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar
Four villagers were gunned down by unidentified militants in two separate incidents in the hilly Doda district in Jammu region, which was recently declared as a disturbed area by the state government following a spurt in violence.
A senior police officer said in Jammu that militants on Wednesday night opened fire on two Hindu villagers in the upper reaches of Neel village, where they had taken their cattle and sheep for grazing during the summer months.
The two villagers were identified as Bhagat Ram (70) and Avtar Chand (80).
The militants later escaped with the flock of the two villagers.
In the nearby village of Mahu Mangat, militants gunned down two shepherds on Wednesday night.
The villagers, identified as Naseeb Singh and Amar Singh, were killed on the spot.
The news about the killing of the four villagers reached the district headquarters of Doda early on Thursday morning.
The authorities immediately dispatched security forces to the upper reaches of Doda to mount a hunt to nab the killers.
No militant group has claimed responsibility as yet.
The killings have come in awake of the entire Jammu region of the state being declared as a disturbed area by the state government.
Meanwhile, one army major was killed and three soldiers were wounded in heavy Pakistani shelling at Tilel in Gurez sector of the Baramulla district.
Police sources said Major Ahuja died on the spot. The three injured soldiers were rushed to the hospital.
Sources said Pakistani troops rained shells on Tilel early on Thursday. Shells landed on an army post resulting in the death of the major.
In another incident, 20 persons, including a dozen armymen, were wounded in a grenade explosion at Shopian in the southern Pulwama district on late Thursday, police said.
During a routine search of the vehicles, police said a militant travelling in a bus hurled a hand grenade on the troops. The injured were immediately rushed to the hospital.
EARLIER REPORT: Four villagers killed in Doda
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