Srinagar: Just days after three civilians were gunned down by The Resistance Front (TRF), the Valley witnessed violence again on Thursday when two government school teachers fell to bullets in the Eidgah area of the city.
"At about 11.15 am, terrorists shot dead two school teachers at Sangam Eidgah in Srinagar district," a police official said. He said one of the two slain persons is a woman.
He said the area has been cordoned off and a hunt has been launched to nail the attackers.
The deceased have been identified as Supinder Kour, a resident of Alochi Bagh area of the city here, and Deepak Chand, a resident of Jammu. They were working as teachers at Government Boys School, Sangam.
The latest killing has taken the number of civilians shot dead in the valley to seven, including six in the city, over the past five days.
On Saturday, militants shot dead Majid Ahmad Gojri, a resident of Chattabal Srinagar, at Karan Nagar. Later that night, another civilian Mohammad Shafi Dar, resident of Batamaloo, was shot at and injured at SD Colony Batamaloo. He succumbed to injuries a few hours later.
On Tuesday, three civilians including Makhan Lal Bindroo, owner of Srinagar's most famous pharmacy, were shot dead by militants within two hours in separate incidents in Srinagar and Bandipora districts of Jammu and Kashmir.
Bindroo, the owner of Bindroo Medicate, was shot dead by the assailants from point-blank range while he was at his pharmacy.
Within an hour, militants struck in Hawal area of the city, killing a non-local street vendor.
The vendor, who used to sell bhelpuri, was shot at point-blank range and died on the spot. The victim was identified as Virender.
Within minutes of the second killing, militants shot dead Mohammad Shafi Lone at Naidkhai in Bandipora district in north Kashmir.
Meanwhile, political parties have condemned the killing of the two teachers.
Shocking news coming in again from Srinagar. Another set of targeted killings, this time of two teachers in a Govt school in Idgah area of the city. Words of condemnation are not enough for this inhuman act of terror but I pray for the souls of the deceased to rest in peace, National Conference (NC) vice president Omar Abdullah said on Twitter.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Mehbooba Mufti said the Centre's claims of building a 'Naya Kashmir' has actually turned it into a hellhole.
Disturbing to see the deteriorating situation in Kashmir where a minuscule minority is the latest target. GOI's claims of building a Naya Kashmir has actually turned it into a hellhole. It's sole interest is to use Kashmir as a milch cow for its electoral interests, she wrote on Twitter.
Peoples Conference chairman Sajad Lone said it is important to understand that terrorists have no religion.
Reports of cowardice emerging. Two teachers shot dead. It is important to understand that terrorists have no religion. Muslims have been killed too. I personally had a killing in my family. This is a lunatic fringe which is a curse for Kashmir. May Allah rid us of this curse, Lone said in a tweet.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) J&K spokesman Altaf Thakur also condemned the killings, saying the killing of unarmed teachers, who have nothing to do with politics, is nothing but purely inhuman act and frustration.
Those who killed the two teachers have no religion. These teachers were teaching students, what was their fault, Thakur said.
He said the cowardly act deserves the highest form of condemnation.
The killing of unarmed civilians can never be justified as no religion allows to kill innocents, the BJP spokesman said, as he expressed sympathies with the families of the slain teachers.
He urged police to arrest the group who are killing innocent civilians, including teachers, in Srinagar.
Terror organisation TRF is a shadow outfit of the banned Lasker-e-Taiba.
(With inputs from PTI)