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3 policemen, 1 civilian killed in fighting in Indian Kashmir, say police

12 August 2010 01:03 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Suspected rebels fired at the home of a pro-India politician and ambushed a military convoy in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, killing three policemen and one civilian, police said Wednesday, APA reports quoting â€œCanadian Pressâ€.
A bus following the army vehicles was caught in an exchange of gunfire Wednesday between the rebels and the soldiers, killing one woman passenger, police officer Ramesh Jalla said. Fourteen other civilians in the bus and two soldiers were wounded in the attack in Thanamadi, a remote mountainous town southwest of the region’s main city, Srinagar, Jalla told The Associated Press.
On Tuesday night, suspected insurgents fired at the home of Mohammed Abdullah, a leader of the Democratic Nationalist Party, in Sopore, a town northwest of Srinagar, a police officer said. He spoke condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Abdullah escaped unhurt, but three police officers guarding him were killed in the attack, the officer said.
Meanwhile, thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers patrolled largely deserted streets and enforced a strict curfew Wednesday in most parts of Indian Kashmir, which has seen violent unrest in the past two months that has killed at least 51 people, mostly in gunfire from security forces.
Troops laid razor wire and erected steel barricades in Srinagar to stop the anti-India protests.
Kashmir’s main separatist alliance, All Parties Hurriyat Conference, called for a march to the southern town of Pampore to commemorate the anniversary of the death of a top separatist leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who was killed by police in 2008.
Police and paramilitary soldiers fired live ammunition and tear gas after hundreds of rock-throwing demonstrators defied the curfew and staged a protest there, another police officer said on condition of anonymity.
At least four people were injured, two critically, the officer said.
Also Wednesday, thousands of residents of northern Kashmir gathered in Kreeri village after the body of Syed Farrukh Bukhari, 19, was found in a stream late Tuesday. They held protests against Indian rule and blamed government forces for his death.
Bukhari had been missing for two weeks and police said his death was being investigated.
Clashes erupted in some neighbourhoods after government forces fired warning shots and tear gas to stop villagers from marching to Kreeri, the police officer said.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The last two months in the volatile Himalayan region have been reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked an armed conflict that has killed more than 68,000 people, mostly civilians.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in mostly Muslim Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both. Separatists reject Indian sovereignty over Kashmir and want to form a separate country or merge with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.