In an attack by suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists, four Jammu and Kashmir police personnel were killed at a minority picket meant for guarding Kashmiri Pandit families, living in Shopian of South Kashmir, reports The Indian Express.

The attack is the first major violent counter-attack by terrorists in the Kashmir valley after dozens of Islamist terrorists were eliminated by the security forces in encounters over the last several weeks.

The militants targeted a security picket in the Zainapora area of Shopian District, meant for protecting the few minority Kashmiri Pandit families still left in the area. The militants fled with four weapons belonging to the murdered policemen, who were identified as Abdul Majeed, Mehraj-ud-din, Anees and Hameed-ul-lah, all natives of the valley.

As per police sources, the terrorists entered the security picket and started firing indiscriminately, killing three of the policemen on the spot, and seriously injuring a fourth, who succumbed to injuries en route to the hospital.

Shopian has witnessed intensifying violence over the last one month, with multiple encounters between terrorists and security forces. Lately, terror outfits have been resorting to kidnapping civilians who they accuse of being informers. Inspired by the ISIS islamist propoganda, the outfits murder them and then post the footage on social media to strike terror into the hearts of locals on one hand, and attract young recruits on the other.

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mehbooba Mufti have both condemned the attack, with the latter also expressing relief that none of the Kashmiri Pandit families was harmed.