Sikhs Slay 9 in Drive for Indian State
Sikh militants killed nine people in northern Punjab, including a bridegroom and three members of a Hindu wedding procession who were gunned down in a hail of semi-automatic-weapons fire as they danced in the streets, police said today.
Police said five militants armed with submachine guns late Sunday ambushed a group of Hindus proceeding to a wedding in Kheerawali village, 200 miles northwest of the state capital of Chandigarh. The revelers were dancing in the streets to the sound of a band en route to the bride’s residence when they were cut down, police said.
They said four people--including the bridegroom and a 10-year-old boy--died in the assault and five others were critically wounded.
The assailants escaped on motorcycles, police said.
In a second incident, six militants armed with Chinese-made assault rifles and submachine guns early today killed four men in Lohar, 120 miles northwest of Chandigarh, police said.
More than 200 people have died this year in killings related to a nearly 5-year-old campaign by extremists trying to create in Punjab an independent Sikh nation.
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