SRINAGAR: Indian security forces opened fire on protesters Sunday in Indian-held Kashmir, killing at least six people and wounding dozens more who had been trying to reach the site of gunbattle in which soldiers killed five fighters.
Hundreds of villagers, shouting slogans eulogizing freedom fighters and demanding an end to Indian occupation over the region, threw rocks at Indian troops in a bid to help militants who were trapped in a house in southern Shopian area, police said. Counterinsurgency officers and soldiers cordoned off the village following intelligence that a group of militants were hiding there, police said.
As the militants and soldiers fought, government forces also fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas at the protesters. Six civilians were killed, one a teenage boy, and at least 50 others were wounded, police and doctors said.
It was the second straight day of intense unrest in the region. Kashmiris have been fighting Indian occupation since 1989, demanding Indian-held Kashmir be made part of Pakistan or become an independent country.
In recent years, mainly young Kashmiris have displayed open solidarity with fighters and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations. Last year, at least 29 civilians were killed and hundreds were wounded during such clashes.
On Saturday, Indian troops killed three suspected militants during a gunbattle in Srinagar, while one civilian was killed when a police armored vehicle ran over him during clashes with government forces. Another three men were killed in shootings the police.
Businesses shuttered in most parts of Kashmir on Sunday after Kashmiri leaders called for a strike to protest the previous day’s deaths. Internet on mobile phones also remained suspended for the second day, a common practice by authorities to make organizing protests difficult.
Armed police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled across the region and also enforced a security lockdown in old parts of Srinagar, the urban heart of anti-India protests.
In Sunday’s violence, protesting villagers made several attempts to reach the site where the fighters were trapped, barraging troops with rocks, bricks and abuse. They were trying to distract the soldiers, who apart from guns and grenades also used explosives to blast the house where the fighters were cornered, residents and police said.
After several hours of fighting, six militants were killed and a policeman and a soldier wounded, said SP Vaid, police director-general. Among those slain were a top commander and a university assistant professor who formally joined the militant ranks just two days before.
A statement by the University of Kashmir on Saturday said the sociology teacher, Rafi Bhat, had been missing since Friday.
Published in Daily Times, May 7th 2018.