Kashmir, where a revolt against Indian rule has raged for decades, has been blanketed by snow for the past six days, cutting off the region's main highway to the outside world.

The avalanche victims, who all died late on Friday, included five children and their 42-year-old mother, whose house was buried in southern Kapran village.

Further south in Doda district, five women and a man from another family were killed when a snowslide flattened their house. Others killed included a woman, her teenaged son and daughter in northern Gurez district.

"The death toll from avalanches stands at 22," a police officer said, adding that 15 other people were missing.

Indian security forces, who have a large presence in the Himalayan state due to the revolt, airlifted on Saturday over 500 civilians and army personnel stranded in winter capital Jammu, a government statement said.

Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad told authorities to gather blankets and other relief materials such as medicines to be dropped by air "to reach out to the people in their hour of need" as soon as weather conditions permitted.

Hundreds of trucks carrying essential commodities for Muslim-majority Kashmir valley were stranded but officials said there were enough stocks for the moment.

Earlier this week, officials warned that around 150,000 rare Himalayan goats whose wool is used to make Indian Kashmir's famed pashmina shawls were at risk of dying due to the heavy snow.

The goats' pastures, spread over a mountainous area bordering China, have been covered by unusually deep snow and farmers were fast running out of fodder, officials said.

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