Two more killed in Kashmir, toll climbs to 75

Normal life to remain hit as separatists extend ‘protest calendar’.

One youth was killed during clashes with security forces, while another succumbed to his injuries in Kashmir on Tuesday, taking the toll in the last two months of violence to 75.

On Tuesday, security forces fired on stone-pelting mobs in Ananatnag, killing 22-year-old Naseer Ahmed and injuring about 120 protesters. A young woman identified as Jameela was critical after she had pellets fired by security forces lodged in her head. She was taken to a Srinagar hospital for specialised treatment, police and health officials said.

Earlier in the day, Asif Majeed Nagoo alias Musaib —injured in Sopore on Sunday—succumbed in Srinagar. Hundreds of protesters chanting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans attended his funeral in Baramulla district.

More than 10,000 people—mainly youngsters with quite a few of them suffering eye injuries—have also been wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters in violence sparked by the encounter killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahedin commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani on July 8. The area along Anantnag-Pahalgam road erupted early on Tuesday after J&K police and CRPF personnel raided houses to arrest youths accused of violence. Locals alleged that security forces thrashed people and damaged properties. The police and CRPF men fired teargas canisters and used pellet shotguns to quell the protests, and soon the streets witnessed intense clashes between stone-hurling mobs.

Two policemen have also been killed in mob violence and, according to official statements, over 4,500 security personnel have been injured. Reports pouring in Srinagar said that protests and clashes between irate crowds and security forces occurred on Tuesday in Bandipore, Anantnag, Budgam, Shopian, Kulgam, Srinagar and in Baramulla districts. However, authorities in Srinagar said that curfew was on Tuesday lifted from the entire city following improvement in the situation. But restrictions under Section 144 of the CrPC will continue to remain in force in Srinagar and elsewhere the Valley, barring the assembly of five or more persons. Meanwhile, normal life in Kashmir will remain affected even during the coming Eid-ul-Zuha as separatists extended their ‘protest calendar’ by another week staring Saturday. This year, the first day of the three-day event will be on September 13.