5 Hindus slain as they dined

JAMMU, India – Suspected Islamic militants raided a remote mountain village in India’s Jammu-Kashmir state and attacked two Hindu families as they dined together, killing five people, police said today.

The gun and grenade attack on Friday night in Sajroo village, 100 miles north of Jammu, the state’s winter capital, came despite stepped up security in the region to prevent militant attacks ahead of India’s Independence Day celebrations Monday.

Five people were killed and nine others were wounded, said Deputy Inspector General of Police Satbir Gupta, adding that three of the injured were in serious conditions. He said the militants attacked the two families as they ate an evening meal together.

The targeted families volunteered for a village defense committee.