Seven Amarnath pilgrims killed as militants fire: Police

Pilgrims cross mountain trails during their religious journey to the Amarnath cave on the Baltal route, some 125 kms away from Srinagar on Saturday. Pic/PTI

Seven Amarnath pilgrims, five of them women, were killed in a militant attack in Anantnag, the police said. At 8.20 pm on Monday, the militants attacked an armoured car of the police, an official said. When the police fired back, the militants fled, firing indiscriminately, the official added.

A bus carrying yatris was on the highway when the incident occurred. "In the firing by militants, seven people, five of them women, were killed, and another seven injured," the official
said. The bus had come from Sonamarg. The pilgrims were on their way back after visiting the Amarnath shrine.

The police claimed the bus driver had violated rules for the pilgrimage, which state that no yatra vehicle should be on a highway after 7 pm.