Militants kill seven at Kashmir wedding

Seven people belonging to a wedding party were gunned down by suspected Muslim militants in India's troubled Jammu and Kashmir…

Seven people belonging to a wedding party were gunned down by suspected Muslim militants in India's troubled Jammu and Kashmir state on Sunday, police said.

Rebels shot the members of the wedding party this afternoon in Trimbli village of Udhampur district, some 65 km of Jammu, the winter capital of the violence-torn Himalayan state.

No militant group has so far claimed responsibility for the killings, the second militant attack targeting civilians in the area in less than 48 hours.

On Friday six members of a village protection group were gunned down by suspected Muslim rebels near the same district.

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Officials say separatist violence has escalated in Jammu and Kashmir state this year claiming at least 3,100 lives.

Earlier today, police said unidentified militants shot dead two women at Kandi in Kupwara district northwest of Srinagar, the state's summer capital.

Two separatist guerrillas were also killed in a gunbattle with security forces at Magam area of Baramulla district, north of Srinagar, on Saturday night.

Elsewhere, eight rebels and an Indian soldier were killed in separate gunbattles across the Himalayan region, police said.

India, which controls 45 per cent of Kashmir, blames Pakistan for violence and accuses it of training and arming separatists.

Islamabad, which denies the charge but says it gives them moral and diplomatic support, rules over a third of the territory. China controls the remainder.