Ahlul Bayt News Agency (ABNA.ir), Some 25 people were injured in anti-India protests around Occupied Kashmir as police fired teargas to break up demonstrations held despite a strict curfew across much of the insurgency-hit region.
The region has been hit by strikes, demonstrations and curfews over the killing of civilians during the last month by Indian police and paramilitary forces. Troops enforced a strict curfew across major towns in Muslim-majority Kashmir valley on Friday, preventing many namazis (worshippers) attending mosques.
In Srinagar, police backed by paramilitary soldiers sealed off neighbourhoods with barbed wire and blocked roads with security vehicles. Police said in day-long clashes across Kashmir valley, some 25 people, including three women and five policemen, were hurt.
The Jamia Masjid, the main mosque in Srinagar, was among the many mosques namazis were unable to attend for Juma (Friday) prayers.
Small groups of protesters defied the curfew in Srinagar, clashing briefly with baton-wielding riot police, witnesses said. Other protests also occurred near Sopore town, where paramilitary forces shot dead two Muslim men last Friday after their vehicle was attacked by protesters.
The town has been under curfew since then. In Anantnag town, about 50km south of Srinagar, hundreds of Muslims defied strict curfew restrictions and held a protest demonstration, witnesses said.
The protests also spread to northern Kupwara district, which borders Azad Kashmir, sparking fierce clashes after police blocked the protesters at three places.
A general strike called by APHC has closed shops and offices in the Kashmir valley for five days.
State’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Friday made a fresh appeal for peace in the region, and urged APHC and freedom fighters to work with him for finding a lasting solution to the Kashmir dispute.
“We must work together to find a solution which can lead to lasting peace in Kashmir as per the aspirations of the people,” Abdullah said in an attempt to cool anti-India tempers in the region.
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