India ? A wave of violence by Islamic militants aimed at Indian-controlled Kashmir’s Hindu minority has left 35 dead, police said Monday, days ahead of a planned meeting between the divided region’s political separatists and India’s prime minister.

In one village, militants disguised as soldiers coaxed residents from their homes and then gunned down 22 of them – the single bloodiest attack by Islamic guerrillas in Kashmir since a 2003 cease-fire between India and Pakistan.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh suggested the killings would not hamper efforts to find peace in the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan.

“People of Kashmir have rejected and rebuffed terrorists repeatedly,” Singh said.

India has repeatedly accused Pakistan of backing the militants, even as the two countries have talked peace. Singh, however, stopped short of blaming Islamabad for the attack.