Attack on Kashmir village kills 3

SRINAGAR, Indian-Administered Kashmir (CNN) -- Three people, including two children, were killed in a militant attack on the house of a village defense committee member in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said Friday.

Police said militants tossed a grenade into the house of Mushtaq Ahmad late Thursday, killing Ahmad's 76-year-old father, Habibullah, and his two daughters, Nagina, 13, and Nazia, 9. The attack happened in Suntop village of Reasi district, nearly 75 miles north of winter capital Jammu.

"Five others of the family who were injured in this attack were evacuated to Jammu for specialized treatment today," Alok Puri, deputy inspector general of police for the Udhampur-Reasi range area, told CNN.

No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion.

Separatist militants have waged a campaign against Indian rule in Kashmir since 1989, carrying out attacks against Indian security forces and those seen as their allies.

The village defense committees were organized in 1996 to combat the militants, and members have been frequent targets of attacks. So far dozens of these members have been killed and their families attacked by militants, according to police.

Thursday evening's explosion came two days after a similar attack on a house in south Kashmir Shopian district that killed two people and wounded six others.

The separatist violence in Kashmir has claimed 43,000 lives, according to official figures. However, rights groups and various non-governmental organizations put the figure at more than 80,000. E-mail to a friend

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