SRINAGAR: At least nine people were hurt in Indian Kashmir yesterday when police fired rubber bullets and tear gas shells to disperse hundreds protesting the execution of Saddam Hussein, police said.
The violence broke out near the ancient Jamia Masjid mosque in Srinigar, the state’s summer capital, after Muslim protesters pelted stones at police and shouted "Down with America ... Saddam is a martyr."
"Six people were wounded in the clashes," a police spokesman said, adding that three policemen were also hurt when angry protesters attacked and damaged a police vehicle.
Indian Kashmir has witnessed a series of anti-American demonstrations since the hanging of the former Iraqi president on Saturday.
Kashmir is mainly Hindu India’s only Muslim-majority region.
Officials say more than 40,000 people have been killed there in a 17-year revolt against Indian rule but human rights groups put the toll at around 60,000 dead or missing.
Meanwhile, the army yesterday killed four militants in its part of disputed Kashmir after a three-hour gunfight, police said.
"We had a tip-off that Pakistani militants were hiding in the forests. A special team of police and army cordoned the area, after which a gun battle started. Four militants were killed," senior police official Basant Rath said.
The fighting took place in Ramban district, 250km (155 miles) from Indian Kashmir’s winter capital Jammu. The Indian army suffered no losses.
Kashmir, divided between India and Pakistan, is in the grip of a 17-year insurgency against Indian rule that has left more than 44,000 people dead. – Agencies
|
