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Two Village Defence Guards were on Thursday executed by terrorists after their abduction in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district, officials said.
A massive joint search operation has been launched by police and the Army in a dense forest area following the gruesome killings, which were condemned by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and leaders of the National Conference, People's Democratic Party, Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The officials said Nazir Ahmad and Kuldeep Kumar, both residents of Ohli-Kuntwara, had gone to graze their cattle in the Munzla Dhar forest of the Adhwari area in the morning but did not return.
They said police parties fanned out to find them amid reports that they had been abducted and killed by terrorists.
"We have received information that my brother and Ahmad were abducted and killed by terrorists. They were Village Defence Guards and had gone to graze cattle, as usual," Kumar's brother Prithvi told PTI.
He said a massive search operation was underway but the bodies were not yet recovered.
Prithvi said his father Amar Chand died a week ago and the reports of his brother's killing came as another big shock for the family.
The village came to know about the killings when the terrorists used the victims' phones to share pictures of their execution, said a local who wished to remain anonymous.
Kashmir Tigers, an offshoot of Pakistan-based terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed, has claimed that it killed the VDGs. It also shared pictures of the victims' bodies with their eyes blindfolded.
Lieutenant Governor Sinha strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack on VDG members and reiterated the government's resolve to destroy all terror outfits and avenge the barbaric act.
He paid homage to the victims and said, "No words are strong enough to condemn the heinous terrorist attack on VDG members."
"I convey my heartfelt condolences to the families of the brave sons martyred in this cowardly attack. We are firmly resolved to destroy all terror outfits and avenge this barbaric act," Sinha said in a post on X.
Chief Minister Abdullah and National Conference president Farooq Abdullah also condemned the killings.
In a post on X, the ruling National Conference said the party president and the chief minister had condemned the gruesome killings and asserted that "such acts of barbaric violence remain a significant impediment in achieving long-lasting peace in Jammu and Kashmir".
Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Kavinder Gupta, former chief minister and People's Democratic Party supremo Mehbooba Mufti, and Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president Ravinder Sharma also condemned the killings.
Kishtwar, along with several other districts of the Jammu region, including Rajouri, Poonch, Reasi, Udhampur, Doda and Kathua, have witnessed increased terror attacks this year, attributed by security agencies to an attempt by terror handlers across the border to revive militancy in the otherwise peaceful region.