Suspected Islamist rebels have shot dead two sisters in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said yesterday, in what would be their first major attackof the year.

The two women were killed in Sopore town, 55 kilometres (35 miles) north of the region's main city Srinagar, senior police officer Altaf Ahmad told AFP, adding that the motive was unclear.

"1\vo Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militants barged into the house of Ghulam Nabi Dar late Monday night and dragged his two daughters, Akhtar and Arifa, out of their house before gunning them down," the officer said.