SRINAGAR, India — Militants in India’s Kashmir region shot dead seven people, including six migrant workers and a doctor, near a tunnel construction site on Sunday night, officials said, leaving the local community in shock.
The attack comes just days after a new government took power in the region, following the first elections held in a decade. The opposition alliance that won the polls is now governing Jammu and Kashmir, a territory that was stripped of its special status in 2019 and divided into two federally administered regions — Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Migrant workers from outside Kashmir, who often work in orchards, paddy fields, and construction sites, have been frequent targets of militant groups seeking to drive them away. The victims of Sunday’s attack were working at a tunnel site when the gunmen opened fire.
Kashmir, claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but controlled in part by each, has been the site of a decades-long insurgency against Indian rule. The conflict has left thousands dead, with militant groups regularly clashing with Indian security forces in the disputed region.
