Indian-held Kashmir erupts in deadly violence, killing 7
SRINAGAR, India — Indian troops killed three suspected rebels during a gunbattle Saturday in the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmir, while police blamed insurgents for killing three other men during a day of violence and protests in the disputed region.
Counterinsurgency police and paramilitary soldiers staged a morning raid on a cluster of homes in a densely populated neighbourhood of Srinagar after getting a tip that militants were hiding there, police said. Troops asked the trapped militants to surrender but they instead started shooting and sparked a gunbattle, police said.
As the militants and government troops exchanged gunfire, anti-India protests and clashes erupted in several places. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to reach the site of the standoff and threw rocks at troops in a bid to help the rebels escape.
Police and paramilitary soldiers fired shotgun pellets and tear gas to stop the protesters, and at least one protester was run over and killed by a police armoured vehicle. As the anti-India protests and clashes spiraled, shops in the city shuttered and authorities switched off mobile internet services to make organizing protests more difficult.