Indian troops martyred one more Kashmiri youth in the Baramulla district on Thursday, the Kashmir Media Service reported. The youth was martyred during a cordon and search operation in the Rafiabad area of the district, taking the death toll to five over the past two days. On Wednesday, four youngsters were martyred in the occupied valley. The youths were martyred during a cordon and search operation jointly launched by Indian army’s 32 Rashtriya Rifles and 9-Para Commandos in the upper reaches of Rafiabad area of the Baramulla district. Indian forces also used gunship helicopters in the operation. Meanwhile, massive protests erupted after Indian troops launched operation in Gudoora area of Pulwama district on Wednesday. The troops used brute force to disperse the protesters, sparking clashes in the vicinity. In June this year, a United Nations report accused India of having used excessive force in occupied Kashmir to martyr and wound civilians since 2016, as it called for an international inquiry into the accusations of human rights violations. The first UN report on human rights in the valley focused mainly on serious violations in the region from July 2016 to April 2018. Activists estimate that up to 145 civilians were martyred by security forces and up to 20 civilians martyred by armed groups in the same period, it said. Published in Daily Times, August 10th 2018.