While the first attack was at village Chana at around 10.30 p.m., the second happened at Srawan, barely 15 km away, at 3 a.m. Five villagers are injured and five missing.

Though no group has claimed responsibility so far, sources said the killers, about a dozen, belonged to the Lashkar-e-Toiba. Wearing olive green and pathan suits, they spoke Punjabi and Urdu and were posing as security personnel, eyewitnesses said.

While Chana is inhabited only by Hindus, Srawan has a mixed population. The killings have led to the migration of Hindus from both villages and Chana is almost deserted. Sources said the militant group had planned to strike simultaneously at two other villages, Hanote and Balara, but because of armed resistance from the Village DefenceCommittees (VDCs) there, they could not succeed.

However, there were apparently no VDCs at Chana and Srawan villages. Even the police post set up at Chana was reportedly withdrawn a fortnight ago against Union Home Minister L K Advani's instructions issued during his recent visit to Chapnari.

Militants arrived at village Chana around 8.30 pm yesterday and posing as security forces asked the villagers to come out of their houses. They fired, killing seven on the spot and injuring four others. One of the injured succumbed to injuries while being moved to the hospital.

``We were having dinner when four to five men came in Army uniform enquiring if some government employee had come to our house,'' recalled a traumatized 12-year-old Pushpa who is being treated at the Government Medical College in Jammu for a bullet injury in her shoulder. ``My aunt, Shakuntala Devi, mistook them for Army men who probably wanted to enquire about her husband, Munshi Ram, a Lance Naik, on a two-month leave from Nagaland,'' shesaid. ``As my uncle came out, they sprayed bullets on him.

He died on the spot. Then they killed my aunt.'' Pushpa's elder sister, Babli, who was visiting her parents', was among the victims.

The other villagers fled to safety and the entire village was deserted within minutes. Some of the fleeing villagers met an Army patrol party, about 5 km away, and narrated the incident. The party reached there around 3 am only to find the entire village deserted. And even as they were searching for the bodies in Chana, militants struck at Srawan killing eight more.

The deceased (in Chana) have been identified as Girdhari Lal and his brother Naib Chand, Munshi Ram and his wife Shakuntala, Babli Devi, Devi Chand, Duni Chand, Kailash and Bharat Bushan. The injured included Pushpa, Parkash and Narayan. They were airlifted to the Government Medical College Hospital at Jammu.

At Srawan, the deceased include: Roshan Lal, Mangu Ram, Bansi Lal, Puran Chand, Nath Ram, besides Jagat Ram and his sons, Tara Chand and MohanLal. The injured have been identified as Vidhi Devi and Parkashi Devi.

Sources in the Army said five Hindu men are missing. Efforts are on to find out whether they have been kidnapped by the militants, they said.

Another victim, Om Prakash, 30, said he was holding his four-month-old niece when some men passed by the window. ``Suddenly, one of them flashed a torch in my face and asked me to raise my hands. I kept my niece on the floor, I thought they were Army personnel on patrol as they were not Kashmiri- speaking people. The moment I raised my hands, they shot at me, injuring my lower ribs,'' he said.

``We had not seen these persons in the area although several other militants had been taking shelter in the village for the past several months,'' he added. Prakash said he hid himself in the chimney and waited there until 2 a.m. when some Army personnel arrived from their post, 1.5 km away from the village. Meanwhile, a ruling National Conference leader, 11 ultras and two security men were among 15people killed in Jammu and Kashmir while ultras made an abortive attempt to desecrate a shrine in the state since last evening. Militants also attacked two police stations, tried to blow up security vehicles at two places. Also, two hardcore militants were nabbed by army during the period.