Indian soldier slays five colleagues

Indian soldiers are said to be battle weary

An Indian soldier in Indian-administered Kashmir has killed five colleagues before shooting himself.

The constable, Sanjeev Kumar, opened fire late on Sunday in a guardroom at the army's Northern Command Headquarters in Udhampur, 65km (40 miles) north of the winter capital, Jammu.

He then turned his gun on himself.

There has been an increase in such incidents in recent years, most of which are attributed to battle fatigue and home-sickness.

Shooting spree

Reports say psychological trauma is rife among Indian security forces in Kashmir, who have been battling separatist militants for more than a decade.

The constant attacks take their toll

About 60 army and paramilitary soldiers, including a dozen officers, have died in similar shooting sprees.

In several cases, soldiers have gone berserk after being turned down for leave.

Earlier this year, an army court martial sentenced a soldier to death for killing an officer who had stopped him and other soldiers from torching a village to avenge a militant suicide attack.

Landmine attack

In a separate incident, a defence spokesman said one Indian soldier was killed and another five wounded in a landmine explosion in the frontier district of Kupwara on Monday morning.

A militant group, Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen has said it carried out the attack.

Authorities say more than 500 people have been killed in violence in Indian-administered Kashmir since the India-Pakistan summit at Agra failed to resolve the Kashmir issue.

The dead include more than 300 militants and at least 100 Indian soldiers.