The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that innocents were being killed in Jammu and Kashmir and strongly condemned the targeted killings of civilians in the Union Territory. The central government also said that it was “worried about cross-border terrorism”.

Seven people have been killed in the Union Territory in five days. Six of these attacks took place in Srinagar.

Two teachers were killed by gunmen in a school in Sringar’s Safa Kadal town earlier on Thursday.

On October 5, a prominent Kashmiri Pandit pharmacist in Srinagar and a vendor from Bihar were shot dead by suspected militants in the city. In Bandipora district, a taxi driver was also killed on the same day.

Two civilians were shot dead on October 3 by suspected militants in separate attacks in Srinagar.

The Resistance Front, an offshoot of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, has claimed responsibility for six of the attacks.

At a press briefing on Thursday, foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said: “We continue to discuss the matter with our partners. In every meeting, we speak about what the international community should do.”

When asked about the action taken in connection with the attacks, he asked the media to direct the questions to the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Also read: What is driving the spate of civilian killings in Kashmir?

Meanwhile, Kashmir Inspector General Vijay Kumar said that a told of 28 civilians had been killed in 2021. “Out of 28, five persons belong to local Hindu and Sikh communities and two persons are non-local Hindu labourers,” he told ANI.

Several politicians have spoken out against the violence in Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed neither the Centre’s demonetisation decision, which it claimed would curb terror financing, nor the scrapping of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status had stopped terrorism.

“The central government has completely failed to provide security [to the people of Jammu and Kashmir,” Gandhi said. “We strongly condemn these attacks on our Kashmiri brothers and sisters and send our condolences to the families of the deceased.”

National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said that condemnation was not enough “for this inhuman act of terror” and that he was praying for the deceased.

Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said it was disturbing to see the “deteriorating” condition in Kashmir.

“GOI’s [government of India] claims of building a naya [new] Kashmir has actually turned it into a hellhole,” she alleged. “Its sole interest is to use Kashmir as a milch cow for its electoral interests.”

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Altaf Thakur said that it was high time for the Srinagar police chief to take steps to prevent further killings of civilians. “Why no security measures on ground to prevent such incidents in the city?” he asked. “There is fear all around.”