The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday said four people, including a minor girl, were injured after militants fired at civilians in Dangerpora area of Sopore district. The police called the incident a “merciless act of terrorism”.

“Terrorists fired and injured four persons including a baby girl [Usma Jan] at Dangerpora Sopore,” the police said in a tweet. “All injured shifted to the hospital and stated to be stable. Police on spot and investigation in progress.”

The militants attacked the civilians for defying their warnings to shut shop to protest Centre’s decision to withdraw the state’s special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, according to NDTV.

Police said that the militants entered the home of a resident identified as Hamidullah Rather’s at Dangerpura because they were upset that he ran his business despite warnings.

The attack came days after the Indian Army had warned that Pakistan has stepped up attempts to push as many terrorists as possible into Jammu and Kashmir. The Army said that they caught two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists during one such attempt last month.

The chiefs of all the three wings of the armed forces have said over the past month that they were completely prepared to thwart any attempts at terrorism.

Cross-border tensions between India and Pakistan have escalated since New Delhi’s August 5 announcement that Jammu and Kashmir’s special status would be revoked. Pakistan, which has fought three wars with India for Kashmir since Independence, has not taken this move well.

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