Former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir strongly condemned the targeted killing of yet another civilian in the Eidgah area of Srinagar on Saturday. Arbind Kumar Sah from Bihar’s Banka, who worked as a street vendor in Srinagar, was shot by terrorists at around 6.40pm and was rushed to Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

Calling the act “reprehensible”, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Omar Abdullah said all Sah did was to come to Srinagar in search of earning opportunities.

“Strongly condemn the killing of street vendor Arvind Kumar in a terror attack in Srinagar today. This is yet another case of a civilian being targeted like this. All Arvind Kumar did was come to Srinagar in search of earning opportunities & it’s reprehensible that he was murdered,” tweeted Abdullah.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti also condemned the attack on the non-local street vendor, saying such incidents reinforce the need to reach out to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

“Strongly condemn today’s attack on a street vendor who sadly succumbed. Such unfortunate incidents only reinforce the immediate need to reach out to the people of J&K by initiating a constructive dialogue,” she tweeted.

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Another non-local labourer, identified as Sagir Ahmad from Uttar Pradesh, succumbed to his injuries after terrorists fired upon him in Pulwama. Kashmir Zone Police said they have started search and cordon operations in the areas where two non-locals were killed the same day.

The targeted killings in Kashmir, with victims particularly from minority communities, have increased in recent days. Sah was murdered in the same area where terrorists killed a Sikh principal and a Hindu teacher of Government Boys Higher Secondary School last week.

Meanwhile, the security forces have also intensified counterterrorism operations in Kashmir after firm direction from the Centre to protect the minorities.

On Saturday, Vijay Kumar, IGP Kashmir, said that 13 terrorists have been killed in nine encounters since the targeted attacks started in Kashmir. Kumar noted that two terrorists affiliated with Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taliba (LeT), involved in several civilian killings, have been neutralised in the last 24 hours.