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Mukhtar Ahmed in Srinagar
Five women were killed, and five others, including a police constable, were injured in militant attacks in the two villages of Poshkreeri and Hugam villages near Pahalgam in south Anantnag district.
Three of the women were from the Sikh community, while the other two were Hindus.
Senior police officers rushed to the spot along with reinforcements and the injured have been shifted to Bejibehara hospital.
Sources said the condition of two injured persons, including the police constable Shams-ud-Din is critical.
The Kashmir range police K Rajendra said unidentified militants fired on a house at village Poshkreeri in the Anantnag district around 7.30 pm killing three Sikh women.
He said two Sikh villagers received injuries in the firing.
Cops of Jammu and Kashmir Armed Police guarding the members of the Sikh community in the village retaliated and engaged the gunmen in heavy firing.
However, they managed to escape.
Rajendra also said that militants opened fire on a house of a Kashmiri pandit in the nearby village of Hugam resulting in the death of two women and injuries to three others, including a policeman identified as Shamsuddin.
The cops guarding the Hugam village fired heavily from their automatic weapons. The exchange continued for some time before the militants escaped.
Rajendra said hunt has been mounted to nab those involved in the attack.
No one has yet owned responsibility for the attack.
The administration had deployed JKAP and district police to guard villages in the entire valley following the killing of 34 Sikhs at Chattisinghpora in Anantnag in March last year.
The administration has posted police guards in all the 150 pockets in the valley, including capital Srinagar for the security of the Sikhs.
Similarly, Kashmiri Pandits living in various areas across the valley too have been provided security by the administration.
Police sources said that Sikhs living in 24 villages in Budgam, 60 in Baramulla, five in Kupwara, 28 in Anantnag and five in Pulwama besides pockets in the capital city have already been provided tight security by the state government.
This followed threats by Sikh community to migrate to Jammu and other places last year.
Following the attacks the administration officials on Friday night said security has been further beefed up in all the villages where the members of minority community are presently residing.
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