Militants also shot dead seven Hindus in two separate strikes in Udhampur and Doda districts of Jammu and Kashmir since yesterday, official sources said today. Militants shot dead five inhabitants of Balmatkote village and set on fire eight houses in Udhampur district, last night.

Meanwhile, senior Army officials attributed the Buffliaz massacre to intra-gang rivalry between the local militants and foreign mercenaries of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit. They pointed out that the deceased were the family members of a dreaded LeT militant, Imtiyaz.

The deceased included three men, two women, and 14 children. Sources said the massacre took place at Sailan village about 8 km north-east of Buffliaz between 1 a m and 3 a m.

Threeof the deceased have been identified as Lassa Sheikh, father of Imtiyaz, his brother-in-law, Ahmed Din, and Ahmed's brother Hassan Mohammad. Sources said a group of Pakistani militants cordoned off three houses at Sailan and asked for Imtiyaz. When Imtiyaz's family said they didn't know his whereabouts, the militants asked them to come out of their houses and stand in a queue.

They then started killing them one by one. They first gunned down the children and then hacked the others to death. No one from the village, which is pre-dominantly inhabited by the majority community, came to their rescue.A police constable, Zakir Hussain, was killed by militants near the village yesterday afternoon. The cop was going to Sailan by bus to meet Imtiyaz for finalising details of his surrender. The mercenaries stopped the bus near the village. The cop was shot dead after a chase.Eleven people, including eight militants and a constable, have been killed in unabated violence in the state since last evening.AMARNATHPILGRIMS INJURED IN BLAST: Seven Amarnath pilgrims were among 24 people injured when a grenade thrown by militants at a patrolling party of BSF missed the target and exploded after hitting the ground in Srinagar today.Two women were among the 24 injured in the attack.