Suspected militants on Monday afternoon gunned down eight labourers from Nepal and Bihar in south Kashmir's Badroo village in Anantnag district.
A senior police officer told rediff.com that a group of heavily armed gunmen opened indiscriminate fire from automatic weapons at a group of labourers near their temporary shelter at Badroo village on Monday afternoon.
"Six labourers died on the spot and seven others were critically wounded. The injured were referred to a local hospital at Kulgam where two more injured persons succumbed to their injuries," said the officer.
The five injured persons have been referred to Srinagar for specialised treatment. The condition of three injured labourers is stated to be critical.
Senior army, paramilitary and police officers have reached the spot. A massive search operation has been ordered to hunt down the killers.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for Monday afternoon's massacre.
Thousands of labourers from Nepal and Bihar, which have over the years replaced the local labour force, come to Kashmir during the working period of summer for employment in skilled and unskilled fields.