Violence reboots in Kashmir, curfew back

Srinagar: Breaking more than a week-long lull, four persons were killed in firing by security men as protests erupted again in the Valley on Friday after firing in the Natipora neighbourhood of Srinagar left two youths wounded. There were reports of clashes between security forces and protesters at more than 26 places.

Fresh violence broke out on Saturday too as curfew was imposed in Srinagar. But hundreds took to the streets after calls for protests were made from loudspeakers in mosques. Two persons were killed when CRPF and police opened fire at protesters in Amargarh near Sopore. At least 45 people were injured. Earlier, the CRPF opened fire in Chanpora in Srinagar, leaving five youths injured.
There was firing in Pattan too and two more were killed. Pattan Block Medical Officer Dr Javid Ahmad said a 16-year-old had died. "He had a bullet injury in the chest and died at the Pattan sub-district hospital," he said. "We have referred 20 injured to different hospitals." The teenager who died was identified as Rafiq Ahmad. Late this evening, 21-year-old Nazir Ahmad Mir of Sheeri Baramulla, working at a bakery in Pattan, too died of injuries.

After the Friday prayers, hundreds assembled on the Sopore-Baramulla highway and began marching towards Sopore town. As the protesters approached the Amargarh power station, CRPF and police personnel tried to stop them. But when they pushed ahead, CRPF personnel opened fire, killing Mohammad Ahsan Ganai and Showkat Ahmad Wagay.
Police also opened fire in Kreeri village. In Pothkah, protesters set ablaze two police vehicles. Ten people were injured. People also took to the streets in Handwara, Kupwara and Kralpora. There was firing in Tral too. A senior CRPF officer was injured at Gallandar Pampore on the Srinagar-Jammu highway when protesters stoned his vehicle.

IANS reports: The situation is extremely volatile in the Baramulla district and Srinagar city where authorities have announced an indefinite curfew. People have been asked not to venture out as those defying the curfew would be dealt with sternly. Two people were killed when Central Reserve Police Force troopers opened fire in Amargarh area of north Kashmir's Sopore town, 54 km from here, at an unruly mob that had damaged a portion of the rail track there.
"Two people identified as Muhammad Ahsan Ganai and Showkat Ahmad Wagay were killed and three others sustained gunshot wounds in the Amargarh firing incident," a senior police officer said here. Three other critically injured protesters were removed to Srinagar for specialized treatment where attending doctors have described their conditions as critical.

CRPF spokesman, Prabhakar Tripathi, however, denied the CRPF had opened fire at the protesters in Sopore. "There is no deployment of the CRPF in the area," he said. Angry mobs later torched the Railway Protection Force's hutments in Sopore town after ransacking the railway station. Two private vehicles parked at the railway station were also set on fire.
A large mob of protesters set ablaze the Pattan police station on Friday afternoon after baton charges and repeated tear smoke shelling by the security forces failed to quell them, a senior police officer here said. "The mob later attacked the policemen posted at the Pattan police station who opened fire in self-defence resulting in the death of 14-year Adil Sheikh of adjacent Palhalan village," the official added.

Three other protesters sustained critical bullet wounds in the incident while 12 others sustained secondary bullet injuries which are not critical. "Twenty other people including policemen have sustained blunt injuries due to stone pelting and baton charges," the official said.
The situation in the Pattan town in Baramulla district is extremely hostile as a large procession is continuing there carrying the body of the slain youth, reports reaching here said. Three people sustained gunshot wounds in the adjacent Singhpora village on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway where mobs blocked the highway by felling trees and vandalised passing vehicles of the security forces. The injured have since been admitted to a hospital in Srinagar for treatment.

In yet another incident, an angry mob attacked the Potkhah police post near Sopore town and ransacked it. The mobs also torched two buses of police. In south Kashmir's Tral town, protesters pelted stones on security forces, leading the latter to use batons and tear smoke shells to quell the unruly mob. Twenty people including eight security men and 12 protesters were injured in the Tral clashes.
One of the injured protesters had to be shifted to Srinagar for treatment after being hit by a tear smoke shell in the face. Doctors here said his condition was critical. Earlier, one teenager identified as Iqbal Ahmad Khan was critically injured when CRPF troopers opened fire to quell an unruly mob of protesters in the Chanapora area of the city, 5 km from city centre Lal Chowk.
Doctors at the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Soura (SKIMS) who operated on Khan said his condition was "unstable and critical". "The injured person has been put on life support system and his condition is unstable and critical," the doctors said here. The condition of three others admitted with gunshot injuries at SKIMS is also critical, the doctors said. Mobs ruthlessly beat five local policemen in Rambagh area after the news of the Chanapora firing incident spread in the city.

Kashmiri Muslim protesters throw rocks and bricks at police officers during a protest in Srinagar on Friday. Massive clashes erupted in Indian Kashmir's main city Friday after two men were wounded as paramilitary soldiers fired on a group of anti-India protesters, police and locals said.

Kasmir on the boil - The story so far
SRINAGAR: Security forces opened fire to quell stone-pelting protesters as fresh violence on Friday erupted in the Kashmir Valley after days of relative calm, leaving two persons dead and 50 others injured.
Authorities imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people following a call by the separatists to march to Maisuma in the heart of the city in protest against the killing of youths allegedly in firing by security forces.
Shoukat Ahmad Chopan and Mohammad Ahsan Ganai were killed and seven others injured when security forces allegedly opened fire on a mob at Arampora village of Sopore, 55 kms from here in Baramulla district of north Kashmir this afternoon, police said. They said the people took to streets shortly after Friday prayers and were heading towards Sopore town when the security forces intercepted them and asked them to disperse.
However, the protesters turned violent and indulged in stone-pelting on a CRPF picket. The security personnel opened fire, resulting in injuries to seven persons who were rushed to hospital. Chopan and Ganai succumbed to injuries at SMHS hospital here, they said. Out of 50 injured in clashes, 10 suffered bullet injuries and were undergoing treatment in different hospitals. The condition of two of them is stated to be "critical", officials said.

A Kashmiri Muslim protester runs for cover from a tear gas shell thrown at him by an Indian police man during a protest in Srinagar. Massive clashes erupted in Indian Kashmir's main city Friday after two men were wounded as paramilitary soldiers fired on a group of anti-India protesters, police and locals said.

The clashes come nearly 10 days after a person was killed and another injured in police firing in self-defence on a mob which turned violent following recovery of the body of a boy who had drowned in Jhelum River in Baramulla district. The trouble started in Srinagar early today when security forces allegedly opened fire on a stone-pelting mob at old Channapora in uptown Srinagar, seriously injuring two youths.
The clashes soon spread to the adjoining localities, including Rambagh and Barzulla on Srinagar-Airport road, as people defied restrictions and indulged in violence. Police and CRPF personnel fired dozens of warning shots as tear-gas shelling and baton charge proved ineffective to restore order, police said, adding three more persons were injured and were undergoing treatment in various hospitals. The condition of Mohammad Iqbal Khan and Mohammad Amir is stated to be "critical", officials said.

Relatives and friends of Showket Ahmad wail near his body inside an ambulance outside a local hospital in Srinagar. Paramilitary soldiers fired on hundreds of demonstrators here today, killing two men and wounding at least 12 others, police said as protests against Indian rule spread across the region. Showket was one of two civilian killed during a protest in Sopore, some 50 Kilometres northwest of Srinagar.

The personnel of Special Operations Group of local police fired dozens of warning shots when hundreds of people surrounded their camp in Baramulla district, 35 kms from here, alleging that a youth had gone missing after he was allegedly picked up by SOG four days back, police said. Reinforcements were rushed to the scene and senior officials assured protesters that the case will be investigated, they said.
As the protesters refused to disperse, police burst teargas shells and used batons to chase them away. The protesters regrouped and later pelted stones at a police station at nearby Pattan, they said adding 15 persons were injured in the clashes. Ten more persons were injured in clashes in Tral Township, 35 kms from here in Pulwama district of south Kashmir shortly after Friday prayers.

A relative of Iqbal Khan, one of the wounded civilian, wails outside a hospital in Srinagar. Massive clashes erupted in Indian Kashmir's main city Friday after two men were wounded as paramilitary soldiers fired on a group of anti-India protesters, police and locals said. Khan was in critical condition in a hospital.

Police said a group of youths took to streets and pelted stones on Deputy Commissioner's office in Shopian town, 52 kms from here in south Kashmir. The ensuing clashes left six persons injured. Fierce clashes between protesters and security forces were witnessed in Baramulla district town resulting in injuries to over 15 people.
Shortly after Friday prayers, protesters took out a march from Machoo on the outskirts of the city. The marchers were later dispersed by police at Rambagh as they tried to move towards Lal Chowk, police said. With the separatists giving the march call to Maisuma here, authorities imposed restrictions on the movement of people in the city, parts of Budgam, Anantnag, Pulwama districts and Sopore town since early this morning.
Normal life has been hit in Kashmir for the past five weeks following the death of youth after he was allegedly hit by a teargas shell near Rajourikadal in downtown Srinagar on June 11 which sparked violent protests in the Valley.

A policeman helps his colleague after he was hit by a stone thrown by Kashmiri protesters during a protest in Srinagar. Massive clashes erupted in Kashmir’s main city Friday after two men were wounded as paramilitary soldiers fired on a group of anti-India protesters, police and locals said.

Meanwhile, strongly condemning the incident, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said the ruling NC-Congress coalition has become a "threat" to a generation.
"Its (NC-Congress) existence is becoming questionable and a threat to a generation...It seems the government has reached a dead end in thought, action and sensitivity, which is contributing to an unprecedented worsening of situation which has led to total dislocation of life affecting every single individual living here (Kashmir valley)," PDP general secretary Mohammad Dilawar Mir said in a statement here.
Accusing the state government of failing to function as "an administrative machinery", he said the government has handed over the prevailing situation "exclusively to police and security forces, which obviously can do no more than use force".

Paramedics carry a wounded Kashmiri man on a stretcher inside a local hospital in Srinagar. Paramilitary soldiers fired on hundreds of demonstrators in Kashmir on Friday, killing two men and wounding at least 12 others, police said as protests against Indian rule spread across the region.

"The government's approach is resulting in anger and alienation of an entire generation...What happened today was a result of unprovoked use of force on youths by security forces and a sign of the continued insensitivity of government towards the citizens," Mir alleged.
The state unit of CPI(M) also expressed grief and shock over the killings.
"Alas, yet another unfortunate day of grief and gloom for the people of the valley. This unending bloodletting course is bound to generate further anger and disillusionment among our people," CPI(M) state secretary M Y Tarigami said in a statement here.
He also appealed to the people to exercise restraint while protesting.