At least four fighters, a counterinsurgency police official and a civilian were killed during a gunbattle in Held Kashmir on Friday, triggering anti-India protests and clashes in which several people have been injured.
Government forces raided a cluster of homes on a tip that armed men were hiding in the southern Srigufwara area and they came under fire from the militants, police said. Four militants and a police official with the counterinsurgency force were killed in the fighting, said Col Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman.
According to police, a civilian and his wife were injured in the first exchange of gunfire as soldiers cornered the fighters in the couple’s house. Residents said the wounded couple was not given time by government forces to leave their home. They were evacuated to a hospital where the husband was declared dead on arrival.
Police said at least two soldiers were also wounded in the fighting.
As the fighting raged, protests and clashes broke out near the site of the gunbattle and in other neighborhoods as residents tried to help the trapped militants escape. Government forces fired shotgun pellets and tear gas at the stone-throwing protesters, injuring at least 20.
Authorities suspended mobile phone internet service in several districts in the region, a common practice to make organizing protests more difficult and, according to the government, stop rumour mongering.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir. Since 1989, Kashmiris have been fighting against Indian occupation and about 70,000 people have been killed in the armed uprising and a subsequent Indian military crackdown.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the fighters, a charge Pakistan denies.
Published in Daily Times, June 23rd 2018.
