SRINAGAR, India – In broad daylight on December 24th, suspected militants shot and killed a ruling-party official in Indian-ruled Kashmir, police said. The attack comes days after rebels made a failed assassination attempt on a senior government minister.

Police said Bashir Ahmed died in Srinagar from a gunshot wound to the head. No group claimed responsibility for the shooting. Days earlier, senior minister Ali Mohammed Sagar escaped a December 11th attack on his life, although a policeman was killed.

Militants opposing Indian rule in Kashmir have killed ministers and pro-Indian politicians, and since 1989, insurgency in the region has left more than 47,000 dead.

Violence in Kashmir dropped sharply since India and Pakistan—each holding a portion of the area, but claiming it entirely, began a peace process in 2004.