Suspected separatist rebels in Indian Kashmir have killed three members of the ruling Hindu nationalist party in New Delhi, bringing the number of party officials killed since July in the disputed territory with Pakistan to nine, AFP has learned from the police.
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The attackers on Thursday fired shots at a car carrying the three members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
No immediate claims were made, but police called the attack a "
terrorist crime
".
Rebel groups have stepped up their attacks on supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi since the Indian government's revocation of Kashmir autonomy in August 2019, accompanied by strict security measures and a total blackout in the territory where the internet was cut off for several months.
Six members killed in July and August
In July and August, six BJP members were killed in several shootings in the territory.
Fear then spread through the party's ranks and at least 16 activists publicly left the organization.
Thursday's attack comes two days after New Delhi passed a new law that for the first time allows any Indian citizen to buy land in Indian Kashmir.
This was prohibited before the August 2019 decision abolishing the special status of Jammu and Kashmir enshrined in the Indian constitution.
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Demoted to the status of Union territory ruled directly by New Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir was further divided by separating Ladakh, its eastern part with a Buddhist majority.
The new law sparked protests including from some pro-Indian groups who accused it on Thursday of targeting the territory's predominantly Muslim identity.
In the grip of a bloody separatist insurgency against India since 1989, Kashmir has been claimed by both India and Pakistan since the end of the British occupation in 1947 and de facto divided between the two nuclear powers of South Asia. South.
