Another attack threatens Shopian peace

A three-year-old boy and his father were gunned down by suspected militants in south Kashmirs Shopian district. The killing of the duo is the fifth...

A three-year-old boy and his father were gunned down by suspected militants in south Kashmirs Shopian district. The killing of the duo is the fifth in the district in the last eight days. The man had survived an attack in April while his mother was killed.

Shopian SP Shahid Mehraj said a group of militants knocked on the house of Mohammad Aslam Awan last night and asked the inmates to open the door.

Awan picked his three-year-old son Arif Ahmad,thinking that the sight of the child in his lap would stop the militants from opening fire. But the militants fired indiscriminately on the family,killing Awan and his son, Mehraj said.

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Immediately after the incident,police and security forces rushed to the spot and cordoned the village to nab the gunmen,but no one was arrested. Police said they were told by the family that the gunmen were carrying assault rifles. The post-mortem of the two bodies was conducted in the Sub District Hospital,Keller. We are investigating why militants killed Awan and his son, Mehraj said. No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings.

Almost three months ago,Awan had survived a bid on his life when suspected militants attacked his home in a similar manner. On April 16 evening,gunmen had attacked the same house and Awan was seriously injured in the shooting. His 50-year-old mother Reshma died in the attack. Awan was in a Srinagar hospital for over 50 days and he returned home a month ago.

In the last eight days after normalcy returned to Shopian the district was paralysed for more than a month following the rape and murder of two young women this is the fifth killing. On July 16,a girl,Parveena,was killed by gunmen in Kellar. On July 21,militants attacked a camp of the SOG a grenade in which a SI and Special Police Officer were killed.

Police said that they have inputs that militants have managed to regroup in Shopian during the 47-day turmoil in the district. The police were busy with the law and order problem in the district and militants seem to have taken advantage and regrouped, said a police officer.