01 August 2004	Sunday	14 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

SRINAGAR, July 31: Suspected Muslim rebels shot dead a Muslim couple and three former militants in Kashmir after suspecting them of being police informers, police said on Saturday.

Gunmen believed to be Islamic militants barged into the house of a Muslim villager in southern Poonch district late on Friday and opened fire, killing the owner of the house and his wife, a police spokesman said.

The couple's 22-year-old son was injured in the shooting.

In another incident, suspected rebels kidnapped two of their former colleagues from southern Anantnag district and shot both of them dead early on Saturday, police said.

Both were members of Ikhwan, a pro-government group formed by ex-militants and now engaged in fighting rebels alongside Indian troops and police, the spokesman said.

The group is armed and financed by the government.

Suspected rebels shot dead another former colleague in Anantnag district overnight, police said.

"All five (victims) were suspected to be informers of the security forces," the spokesman said.

Thousands of people have been killed in Kashmir since the eruption of anti-Indian insurgency in the scenic Himalayan region in 1989.-AFP