News / India

2 killed, 25 injured in fresh clashes in Indian Kashmir

Saturday, 10 September 2016 9:22 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 10 September 2016 9:22 AM ]

An Indian policeman runs amid tear gas smoke during a protest in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, September 9, 2016. ©Reuters

Renewed scuffles have broken out between government forces and pro-independence protesters in Indian-controlled Kashmir, leaving two people dead and at least 25 others wounded.

Police said the casualties came in Saturday’s clashes, during which police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators.

An unnamed local police officer said a young man was killed as police and paramilitary soldiers tried to prevent the protesters from marching to a village in Shopian Hill district.

A 25-year-old man also succumbed to his pellet injuries in Anantnag district.

Indian-controlled Kashmir has witnessed violence since July, when Burhan Wani, a top figure in the pro-independence Hizb-ul-Mujahideen group, was killed in a shootout with Indian troops, acting on a tip, in Kokernag area.

At least 75 people have lost their lives and several thousand have been wounded in fresh Kashmir clashes.

People shout pro-independence slogans during a protest in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, September 9, 2016. ©AFP

Kashmir lies at the heart of a bitter territorial dispute since India and Pakistan became independent in 1947.

New Delhi and Islamabad both claim the Himalayan region in full, but rule parts of it. The two countries have fought two wars over the disputed territory.

India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire in Kashmir on November 26, 2003, and launched a peace process the following year. Since then, there have been sporadic clashes, with the two sides trading accusations of violating the ceasefire along their de facto border dividing the disputed region.

Overall violence in Kashmir has declined during the last decade, but clashes between government forces and militants erupt regularly.

Curfew, communication blackouts and a tightening crackdown have failed to halt the protests against the Indian rule in Kashmir in recent years.

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