Separatists demand Kashmir massacre probe

Residents have called for security to be increased since the massacre

SRINAGAR, India -- Kashmir's main separatist alliance has demanded a probe into the abduction and massacre of 17 Hindu villagers in the restive region.

Indian police say Muslim militants killed the villagers -- farmers or shepherds -- on Saturday in the Dota district of India's troubled Jammu and Kashmir state.

Three more villagers were injured and hospitalized.

A statement from the All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference condemned the killings and called for a probe from an international human rights group.

"We can not sleep over such unfortunate incidents. We have been demanding probes into various massacres by impartial international human rights groups. We demand a similar probe in this incident," the statement, released Saturday evening, said.

Indian authorities said militants of the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba group may have been behind the attack as they are active in the area.

But in a statement that group denied any involvement in the massacre.

'Handiwork of criminals'

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Villagers in the area have also expressed outrage over the incident.

Many called for security to be stepped up in the region in fear of more attacks by separatist Muslim militants.

But a former chairman of Hurriyat, Syed Ali Shah Geelani, told Reuters the massacre could not be condoned by Muslims.

"It is the handiwork of criminals. We demand a probe through [an] independent agency like Amnesty international. There is no scope for such misadventures in Islam," he said.

Hurriyat is an umbrella organization banding together nearly two dozen social, political and religious groups in the Muslim-majority state.

Violence has escalated in Kashmir since a summit last month between India and Pakistan failed to produce concrete results in the quest for peace initiatives in the troubled state.

Almost 150 people, mostly separatists, have been killed since the summit's conclusion.

India, which controls 45 percent of Kashmir accuses Pakistan of supporting and arming Muslim separatists in Kashmir.

Pakistan continues to deny the accusations, saying it provides only moral and diplomatic support.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the predominantly Muslim region, which is divided between them by a cease-fire line.

More than 30,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the state since a bloody revolt against Indian rule began in 1989.

Reuters contributed to this report.