(Srinagar) Six civilians and four suspected rebels have been killed in six days in the relatively peaceful southern Hindu sector of Indian-administered Kashmir in a sudden upsurge of violence, authorities said on Monday.
During the night from Sunday to Monday, two armed men, suspected of being anti-Indian rebels, fired automatic rifles at three houses in the isolated village of Dangri.
The attack left four residents dead, police officer Mukesh Singh told reporters.
Five other people were injured in the shooting.
Police and security forces chased the attackers in the area near the Line of Control dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
About half a million Indian troops are deployed in Kashmir. Its southern part, Jammu, predominantly Hindu, is relatively peaceful.
On Monday morning, two people, including a 7-year-old child, died of injuries caused by an explosion near one of the houses, said another police officer, on condition of anonymity, not being authorized to talk to the media.
An unexploded device found nearby was neutralized by a team of specialists, Singh said.
These violent incidents follow an armed clash that took place between government forces and suspected rebels traveling in a truck at a checkpoint in Jammu.
Police say four suspected rebels were killed in the ensuing exchange of fire. The truck driver managed to escape.
Officials say at least 172 suspected militants and 26 members of the armed forces were killed in fighting last year.
Kashmir, a Himalayan region claimed by India and Pakistan, has been the scene of several wars for its control since the partition of the British Indian Empire in 1947.
For more than three decades, separatist groups, demanding the independence of Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan, have been fighting Indian soldiers.
Tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels died in these fights.
India accuses its big rival of supporting separatist rebels.
Tensions have risen in Indian-controlled Kashmir since New Delhi imposed its direct authority over the territory in August 2019.