2004 Teli Katha massacre was the killing of twelve Muslim

Gujjars Gurjar or Gujjar (also transliterated as ''Gujar, Gurjara and Gujjer'') is an ethnic nomadic, agricultural and pastoral community, spread mainly in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, divided internally into various clan groups. They were tradit ...

Lashkar-e-Taiba Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT; ur, ; literally ''Army of the Good'', translated as ''Army of the Righteous'', or ''Army of the Pure'' and alternatively spelled as ''Lashkar-e-Tayyiba'', ''Lashkar-e-Toiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Taiba'', ''Lashkar-i-Tayyeba'') ...

militants on 26 June 2004 in the village of Teli Katha (also called Tiali Katha by some sources) in Surankote Tehsil in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir.12 Kashmiris Killed in Their Sleep
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'', 27 June 2004

Background

A violent

insurgency An insurgency is a violent, armed rebellion against authority waged by small, lightly armed bands who practice guerrilla warfare from primarily rural base areas. The key descriptive feature of insurgency is its asymmetric nature: small irr ...

has been going on in Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The militants had intermittently massacred villagers who did not support their cause. The state government had supplied arms to the villagers who had formed

Village Defence Committees Village Defence Guards (VDGs) formerly known as Village Defence Committees is a civilian militia first established in the mid-1990s in the Chenab Valley area of Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir for the self-defence of locals, es ...

(VDC) so that they could protect themselves from the militants.

Attack

The murdered villagers included women, children, and men who were members of the Village Defense Committee, had been sleeping in their dhok. They were fired upon indiscriminately. The members of VDC returned fire forcing the militants to flee in 10–15 minutes and thereby saving many lives. The deceased include seven members of the VDC and their five children. Ten others including four women and three children were injured.Militants massacre 12 in Poonch
''

The Tribune ''The Tribune'' or ''Tribune'' is the name of various newspapers: United States Daily California *'' Oakland Tribune'' * ''The Tribune'' (San Luis Obispo) *''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' Indiana *'' Kokomo Tribune'' *'' Peru Tribune'' * ''The Tri ...

'', 26 June 2004 The killings were thought to be revenge for the villagers co-operation with the Indian army during

Operation Sarp Vinash Indian Army operations in Jammu and Kashmir include security operations such as Operation ''Rakshak'', which began in 1990, Operation ''Sarp Vinash'' in 2003 and Operation ''Randori Behak'' in ''2020''. Other operations include humanitarian m ...

. Anger against the militants ran so high that villagers had previously refused to bury militants killed in this operation by the Indian army, claiming their crimes meant they had renounced Islam.

Aftermath

Investigations by the authorities that Zubair Masih of

had led the group of militants who were responsible for the killings. In August 2004, security forces killed three militants involved in this massacre.3 militants involved in Surankote massacre killed
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Daily Excelsior The ''Daily Excelsior'' is an English-language newspaper published in Jammu, a city in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It was established by S. D. Rohmetra. The newspaper has been in publication since 1 January 1965. Its cu ...

'', 29 August 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Teli Kath Massacre 21st-century mass murder in India Mass murder in 2004 Terrorist incidents in India in 2004 Islamic terrorism in India 2004 in India Massacres in Jammu and Kashmir Poonch district, India 2000s in Jammu and Kashmir Religiously motivated violence in India June 2004 events in India