Tentative moves for peace in Kashmir are under threat following some of the worst violence yet witnessed in the divided Himalayan state.
The death toll from a series of attacks on Tuesday was yesterday morning given as fewer than 30 in the Indian press. But by last night it had risen to 90 or more.
As the body count increased, so did the angry rhetoric between India and Pakistan which both control parts of Kashmir.
The killings come in the wake of a ceasefire declared last week by one of the most prominent militant Islamic groups in Kashmir, Hizbul Mujahideen.
Most other militant groups have rejected the ceasefire and vowed to continue fighting against India's presence in the mostly Muslim state.
India blames the military regime in Pakistan for yesterday's massacres. Most of those who died were Hindu labourers and pilgrims. Such attacks, says the Indian government, are the direct result of Pakistan's support for Islamic insurgents in Kashmir.
"No words would be too strong to condemn these outrageous incidents of violence, which are no doubt part of the continuing proxy war being waged against us by our hostile neighbour," said the Home Minister, Mr Lal Krishna Advani. But an alliance of Muslim organisations in the Pakistani-controlled part of Kashmir said the killings might be the work of the Indian intelligence agencies.
"Terrorist acts aimed at civilians have [in the past] been carried out by renegade elements, at the behest of the Indian security forces, to malign the Kashmiri freedom struggle internationally," said a statement issued by the Pakistani foreign ministry.
The first massacre came in the tourist resort of Pahalgam, about 60 miles south-east of the city of Srinagar. Indian police said guerrillas attacked a community kitchen, killing 22 religious pilgrims, six residents and two police officers. Many of the roughly 50 injured people were caught in crossfire between the security forces and the gunmen.
There followed two attacks in Anantnag district, about 30 miles south of Srinagar, in which 26 Indian labourers were killed.
Hizbul Mujahideen and the other Islamic militant groups dedicated to ousting India from Kashmir deny involvement in the attacks. But there is speculation that the massacres were intended to undermine the nascent peace initiative between the Hizbul group and the Indian government.
Pakistan's military ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, yesterday offered a "no war pact" to India and urged New Delhi to seize the chance for peace.