2006 Kulgam massacre was the killing of nine Nepalese and Bihari labourers and a Muslim Kashmiri Indian Army soldier by Hizbul Mujahideen militants in a broad daylight near Yaripora in Kulgam area of Anantnag district in Kashmir on 12 June 2006. [1]
The group of labourers consisted of 9 Hindus and 1 Muslim (whom the terrorists did not kill). They had come to Kashmir from Siliguri as they had heard that wages were good. They were hired to build a wall around a house in Hangalbuch. On the morning of the massacre it had been raining and they took an early break for lunch. A local Muslim, Abdullah Teli, was cooking lunch for them[ citation needed ].
The seven unidentified gunmen wearing combat fatigues, kidnapped Mushtaq Ahmed Sheikh a newly recruited soldier of Rashtriya Rifles and thirteen Nepali and Bihari labourers. Later they tortured and beheaded Sheikh.[ citation needed ] The labourers were lined up and asked to undress. One of them Mahammad Naimuddin was identified as a Muslim and asked to step aside. Then the labourers were fired on indiscriminately leading to the death of nine of them.[ citation needed ]
300 Muslims of Kulgam witnessed the funerals. The police claimed that the pro-Pakistan terrorist organization, Hizbul Mujahideen was believed to be responsible for the attack. [1] However, in 2007 Australian government in declaring Lashkar-e-Taiba a Terrorist organisation also attributed this massacre jointly to it. [2]