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1st LD Writethru: Army firing on protesters kills teenager in Indian-controlled Kashmir

Xinhua, April 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

A teenager was killed and three others wounded Friday after army troops fired upon protesters in Indian-controlled Kashmir, taking death toll of civilians to five during the last four days in the restive region, officials said.

The killing took place in Natnusa village of Kupwara district, some 80 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"After the Friday afternoon congregational prayers, people gathered outside the camp shouting anti-India and pro-freedom slogans," a police official said.

"The angry crowd hurled stones at the camp and tried to clash with the troops, after which they fired upon them wounding four of them."

According to the police official, of the four wounded, 18-year-old Arif Ahmad Dar succumbed to wounds at the hospital.

Locals said residents gathered outside an army camp in Natnusa to protest the recent killings of four people including a woman in two different incidents in the neighbouring villages.

Health officials in Kupwara said the three wounded were referred to Srinagar for specialized treatment.

"One boy succumbed to bullet wounds, while as three others were referred to SMHS hospital in Srinagar," Dr. Fareed, a senior health official in Kupwara, told Xinhua via telephone.

According to locals, Dar was a student of class XI.

Separatists demanded people to stage protests after Friday prayers over the killings in the region.

Meanwhile, normal life in Muslim majority areas of the region, including Srinagar city, Friday remained paralyzed for the fourth straight day in the wake of shutdown and restriction imposed by authorities in Kupwara and Srinagar.

Reports of clashes between protesters and government forces poured in from several places.

The trouble in the region began on Tuesday after Indian army fired upon an irate crowd that took to roads in Handwara town of Kupwara to protest the alleged sexual assault bid on a school girl at the hands of a troop.

The firing killed three civilians including a woman.

On Wednesday, another youth protesting the first three killings was killed after being hit by a teargas shell fired by police in neighboring Drugmulla village.

Indian army termed the killing of civilians in Tuesday's firing as "highly regrettable". Endit