Five killed in Kashmir violence

Violence is picking up in Kashmir

Police in Indian-administered Kashmir say separatist militants have killed four members of a Muslim family.

Ghulam Hussain, his two sons and a daughter were killed in a remote village in Udhampur district.

In a separate incident, police in Kashmir say they have killed a senior militant leader who is said to be wanted for the deaths of 25 people.

The troubled region is to be the focus of talks next month between the foreign ministers of India and Pakistan.

Police in Udhampur say a group of militants, armed with automatic weapons, forced their way into the house of Ghulam Hussain late on Tuesday night and opened fire.

The police say Mr Hussain was targeted as another of his sons, who was not at home during the attack, was working with the state police.

Beheading

In the second incident, a senior police officer told the BBC that Abu Safian - said to one of the top leaders of the Hizbul Mujahideen militant group - was killed in a clash in the mountainous Rajouri district, some 200 kilometres from the state's winter capital Jammu.

He is alleged to be a Pakistani national and is said to have been actively involved in separatist violence in Rajouri district for the past few years.

Police say that he recently beheaded a man and his son in the area.

India blames Pakistan for doing little to stop the infiltration of militants into Indian-administered Kashmir from Pakistani-controlled territory.

But Pakistan denies the charge, saying they only provide moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri separatists.