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Two protesters killed in Indian Kashmir: witnesses

31 July 2010 02:15 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Two protesters were shot and killed Friday in Indian Kashmir when security forces opened fire on a large anti-India demonstration, witnesses said, APA reports quoting news.yahoo.com wehbsite.
The fatalities added to a string of deaths that have fuelled a rolling series of angry protests across the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley in the past two months.
On June 11, a 17-year-old boy died after being hit by a police tear gas shell. With the latest deaths, the number of people killed in clashes with the security forces stands at 19, many of them teenagers.
Witnesses said the two men were shot when security forces opened fire on a demonstration in Sopore town, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Kashmiri summer capital Srinagar. Both died on the way to hospital.
"Both men had bullet wounds and were dead by the time they reached us," a doctor in Srinagar’s main hospital told AFP.
Police said they were gathering details on the incident, which came two days after the Kashmir state government ordered a judicial probe into the recent spate of shootings.
The fresh deaths brought to seven the number of people killed in Sopore town, since the first shooting there on June 25 killed two protesters.
The deaths have brought thousands of residents out on the streets of Sopore and its adjoining villages amid chants like "We want freedom!" and "Go India, go back," residents said.
In the neighbouring Patan town, angry residents ransacked a police station and tried to set it on fire, witnesses said.
Earlier in the day authorities imposed a strict curfew in Srinagar after security forces opened fire at stone-throwing protesters, injuring three people. One of the injured is in critical condition in a hospital.
No prayers were held at the region’s main mosque, the Jamia Masjid in Srinagar, for the fifth consecutive Friday as security forces had sealed off entrances to the Mughal-built mosque with coils of barbed wire.
However, residents were able to attend prayers in smaller local mosques.
More than 30 people were injured during Friday clashes between protesters and security forces across Kashmir valley, police said, adding eight people were hospitalised with bullet wounds.
Separatists had called for protests on Friday.
Nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan each rule part of Kashmir but lay claim to all of the Himalayan region.
A 20-year separatist insurgency on the Indian side has left thousands dead.
New Delhi has blamed separatists and militant groups for instigating the latest unrest, while many locals see it as a spontaneous reaction to abuses by security forces, economic stagnation and political deadlock.
The valley has been under strict curfew since the protests started in early June.
The probe ordered by the state government will be led by two retired judges and has been tasked with submitting its report within three months.
The government has also said it will review the cases of all those detained for taking part in the protests.
Some pro-India parties call for autonomy for the region, moderate separatists seek independence and hardliners continue to campaign for a merger with Pakistan.