Thousands of migrant workers moved after 4 civilians killed in Indian Kashmir

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the four deaths, which sent shock waves through minority communities in the disputed region

The killings follow a series of street shootings last week that left seven civilians dead, including three Hindu and Sikh community members

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Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard on a road south of Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Published: 1:48pm, 18 Oct 2021Updated: 9:59pm, 18 Oct 2021

Indian authorities have moved thousands of migrant workers in Kashmir to safer locations, while hundreds have fled the Himalayan valley after a wave of targeted killings, two security officials said on Monday.

While the trigger for the latest wave of attacks was not immediately clear, Kashmir has been the site of armed insurgency against New Delhi for decades. Kashmir is claimed in full by India and Pakistan but ruled in parts by both.

“We moved thousands of workers to secure places and are facilitating their return home,” a senior police official said, declining to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

In other areas, security forces had intensified patrolling to prevent any militant activity, the official added.

A government spokesman in Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar declined to comment on the movement of migrant workers.

The decision to move workers came after an attack on migrant labourers from Bihar on Sunday.