Protests in held Kashmir after Indian troops kill four people

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Hundreds of angry residents clashed with Indian occupation forces in held Kashmir’s main city Srinagar on Thursday after four Kashmiris were killed — a young woman among them in a violent cordon and search operation.

Indian counterinsurgency police and federal paramilitary forces surrounded the Batamaloo neighbourhood of held Srinagar after midnight following a tip-off that fighters were hiding inside a residential house, triggering an exchange of fire.

Three people, believed to be locals, were killed. “One young woman also died during the encounter,” a police officer told AFP. “The woman was caught in the crossfire. Her death is unfortunate,” director general of police Dilbagh Singh told reporters. A paramilitary trooper was also injured during the firefight, Singh said.

As news of the deaths spread hundreds of residents took to the streets, throwing stones at Indian occupation forces who fired tear gas and metal pellets. The crowd shouted slogans, such as “Long live Pakistan” and “We want freedom”, according to an AFP photographer at the scene.

Thursday’s deaths came a day after similar protests in northeastern Kashmiri town Sopore, where Irfan Ahmed Dar, 26, was found dead hours after he was detained by police. Dar’s family say police tortured and killed him, later dumping his body in an open area.

Indian police claim Dar was an “overground” associate of anti-India fighters and escaped from police custody before he was found dead. Dar’s body was not released to his family, and authorities buried him in a graveyard reserved for slain fighters.

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference called for a strike today (Friday) against Dar’s custodial killing and the killings on Thursday.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, an APHC spokesman termed the killings “heinous acts” and demanded a probe by an international investigation agency into these incidents.

The APHC spokesman hailed the people for their commitment and matchless sacrifices and urged them to hold protests after Friday prayers outside mosques to convey a “loud and clear message to India that the Kashmiris will never accept its hegemony and will continue their struggle for self-determination despite its brutal policies and state terrorism”.

A day earlier, Pakistan strongly condemned the Dar’s killing in custody. “India’s inhuman methods to subjugate the Kashmiri people through killings, torture, forced disappearances and incarcerations have failed in the past and will not succeed in future,” the Foreign Office said in a statement.

“The perpetuation of India’s state-terrorism cannot break the will of the Kashmiris or quell their efforts to secure their inalienable right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions and international law.”