Veteran journalist Shujaat Bukhari and his two police bodyguards were shot dead on Thursday by unknown assailants in Srinagar, the main city in disputed, Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The gunmen fired on Bukhari as he got into his vehicle outside his office in the city's press enclave, leaving him and the two policemen in a pool of blood.

In his fifties, Bukhari was an advocate for a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conflict and a promoter of human rights. He was the editor-in-chief of the English daily Rising Kashmir, Urdu daily Buland Kashmir and Kashmir daily Sangarmal.

Indian Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh called Bukhari a "courageous and fearless journalist."

The Editors Guild of India condemned what it called a "dastardly attack."

"Mr Bukhari was a voice of moderation and a courageous, big-hearted editor who mentored a large cadre of young journalists from Kashmir," the Guild said in a statement. "The killing of Mr Bukhari is a new low in a rapidly deteriorating environment for media practitioners in Kashmir, in particular, and in the country in general."

Political violence and threats against journalists in Kashmir is common. Bukhari was protected around-the-clock by police bodyguards.

In one of his final tweets, Bukhari linked to an article from his website on the UN Human Rights chief calling for an international inquiry into human rights abuses committed in Kashmir by both India and Pakistan.

India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir and have fought three wars over the Himalayan region since both countries declared their independence from the Britain in 1947.

cw/jm (AFP, AP)

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