By Zahid Rafiq SRINAGAR, Indian-held Kashmir (AA) – Two armed Kashmiri militants and two Indian soldiers were killed in a clash near the border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the Indian army said Saturday. Army spokesperson Lt. Col. NN Joshi said the gunfire started Friday night in the northern Nowgam area of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) after Indian soldiers spotted the fighters, who Joshi said had infiltrated from the Pakistani side of the border, known as the Line of Control. Meanwhile, a curfew imposed by the Indian government remained in effect in many areas of IHK for the third week, to stop people coming out in large numbers to join street protests.
The ongoing pro-Independence agitation in the region began on July 8 following the news that 22-year old Burhan Muzaffar Wani, who had shot to prominence on social media as a young militant commander, had been killed in a gun fight with Indian soldiers.
Since then over 50 civilians have been killed and 2,300 wounded in firing by the Indian armed forces while a policeman was also killed during the first week of protests. Over 100 civilian protestors were wounded in clashes with the Indian police on Friday alone and police confirmed clashes between protestors and Indian forces occurred in at least 70 places across the region on Friday. Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. The two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir. Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in IHK have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan. More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict so far, most of them in Indian Armed force’s counter insurgency operations. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed regions.
