| Gunmen on Sunday shot to death the former leader of Kashmir's largest Islamic rebel group in what may have been retribution for talks with the Indian government. The slaying of Abdul Majid Dar, former Kashmir commander of the Hezb-ul Mujahedeen, was a setback for Indian security authorities, who were trying to persuade the former leader to take a political role in the state wracked by 13 years of separatist violence. Dar was fatally shot in the town of Sopore, a separatist stronghold 35 miles north of Srinagar. Dar's mother and sister also were injured in the shooting by masked men, said K. Rajindra Kumar, the inspector general of police. Local news agencies in Srinagar received calls from two separatist groups, both of whom claimed responsibility for the attack. Syed Tajammul, a spokesman of the Save Kashmir Movement, said it had carried out the killing "for his activities against the movement." A similar claim was made by Faisal Nasir, who said he was a spokesman of the al-Nasreen group. |