SRINAGAR, Aug 21 (1989): Unidentified gunmen ambushed and killed a senior worker of Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party in Srinagar, police said.

They said Yusuf Halwai was walking through the downtown area of Srinagar when two gunmen shot him and fled through the narrow lanes of the old city.

Halwai, an area president of the National Conference, was the first senior member of the ruling party to be killed in a violent campaign by separatists.

Last week there were a spate of bomb blasts at the homes of leaders from the National Conference and its coalition ally Congress (I), and militants ordered legislators to boycott the state assembly.

Many shops in Srinagar remained closed on Monday in protest against the opening session of the state assembly and police clashed in some districts with rock-throwing crowds.

State chief minister Farooq Abdullah, who frequently charges Pakistan with training and arming secessionists, told the assembly he planned drastic measures to root them out.

“If we do not stop them now, Kashmir will become another Afghanistan which I do not want to happen,” he said.