Sikhs Fire at Hindu Villagers; 9 Killed
Sikh terrorists fired pistols and automatic rifles at Hindu villagers shopping at a busy market Saturday night, killing as many as nine people and wounding 11, police and government sources said.
At least six terrorists fired on the crowd at Khumban village and fled on foot, a Punjab state government spokesman said. Khumban is in Abohar township, about 138 miles northwest of New Delhi.
Official sources said five of the dead were Hindus and the others were presumed to be Hindus.
Government sources in Chandigarh said at least eight people were killed in the attack shortly before 7 p.m. and as many as 11 were wounded, but state police sources said nine people were slain. Three of the wounded were identified as Sikhs.
The remote Abohar area is a predominantly Hindu region of traders and cotton farmers near Punjab’s border with Haryana. Both states claim the region.
The killings appeared to be the worst single terrorist attack in Punjab since July 25, when Sikh terrorists dragged 14 Hindus off a bus and shot them.
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