SRINAGAR, Sept 20: Twelve people, including two ruling party activists, were killed in occupied Kashmir on Friday and Thursday night, as violence spiralled in the lead-up to a second phase of voting.

A police spokesman claimed Indian troops had shot dead four Mujahideen trying to cross the Line of Control (LoC) into the held state.

The spokesman said the four had crossed the LoC in Baramulla district.

India’s Border Security Force (BSF) claimed killing a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen in Sopore, 50kms north of Srinagar, on Thursday night.

The slain man, Javed Ahmed alias Jajja, was carrying a 100,000 rupees bounty on his head.

“The slain militant was responsible for killing more than a dozen security personnel and informers and has been active since 1994,” a BSF spokesman said.

“He created terror in Sopore city and its peripheries before the assembly elections so that the masses would not participate in the election process.”

Sopore, which is part of Baramulla district, recorded a turnout of only 7.8 percent in the first phase of polling on Monday.

Four more people, including a schoolteacher, died elsewhere in held Kashmir on Friday, police said.

In another clash, an Indian soldier was killed and three others injured in a landmine explosion near Shopian township, 50 kilometres south of Srinagar.

A Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) vehicle was completely destroyed when it hit a landmine, police said.

Two members of occupied Kashmir’s ruling National Conference (NC) party were gunned down by Mujahideen on Thursday night, bringing to 29 the number of pro-India activists killed since New Delhi announced the dates for the assembly poll last month.

Police said two militants walked up to NC party activist Azad Ahmed Khan as he was walking from the party headquarters in Srinagar, pumped him full of bullets and then fled.

Another NC official, Molvi Mohammad Hussain, was shot dead near Achabal, in Anantnag district.

An independent candidate, Abdul Hamid, was injured when militants attacked his motorcade in Surankote area of Poonch district on Thursday.

Police said he was hospitalized and was now out of danger.

A canvassing vehicle was fired upon near Kulgam, Anantnag district, on Friday, injuring a campaign worker of an independent candidate.

Militants also hurled a handgrenade at the residence of a Congress candidate in Pulwama district, without causing any casualties.

The first phase of voting took place in five districts on Monday, with authorities claiming a “satisfactory” 47 per cent voter turnout.—AFP