Assailants fatally shoot 2 schoolteachers in Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AP) — Police say assailants have fatally shot two schoolteachers in Indian-controlled Kashmir in a sudden rise in targeted killings of civilians in the disputed region. Authorities blamed militants fighting against Indian rule for the attack in the outskirts of Srinagar, the region’s main city. Police say militants fired at a female teacher and her male colleague inside a government school from a close distance and later fled. Both died on the spot. Government forces cordoned off the area and launched a search for assailants. The victims were members of Hindu and Sikh minorities. The Himalayan territory is divided between India and Pakistan. Both archrivals claim it in its entirety. Rebels in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989.