Protester killed during clashes with forces in Kashmir

Srinagar, DHNS: A civilian was killed while dozens others were injured in two separate incidents in south Kashmir's Kulgam and Shopian district on Wednesday, as protesters tried to disrupt anti-militancy operations launched by the security forces in twin districts.

Reports said that youth took to streets and clashed with the security forces who had launched a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Pinjura, Shopian, 48 kms from here.

They said the youth pelted stones on security forces to disrupt the anti-militant operation. The forces, they said, responded by firing live ammunition, pellets and tear gas, leading to death of a civilian and injuring at least 20 others.

A police official said that the CASO was launched following inputs about the presence of militants in the area.

Earlier, after a gunfight, unknown militants, with the help of locals managed to escape from an encounter site in Tazipora-Mohammadpora village of Kulgam, 75 kms from here.

Reports said hundreds of local poured onto roads as two militants fought a gun battle with army’s 9-Rashtriya Rifles and special operations group of Jammu and Kashmir police inside a house in Tazipora-Mohammadpora village.

The protesters pelted security forces with stones to give the militants cover to escape, they said. The clashes left dozens of protesters injured.

Reports added that six wounded youth were shifted to hospitals in Srinagar. A medico said that majority of the protesters sustained pellet injuries, while a youth suffered a bullet injury in his abdomen.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Kashmir in the last three years while helping militants escape the security cordon. In 2017, Army chief General Bipin Rawat's had warned those who try to disrupt counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir.

From 2016 to 2018, the trend of stone-pelting mobs thronging encounter sites to allow militants to flee the cordon had become a serious challenge for security agencies. Initially, some relatives or close associates of the local militants would march towards the encounter site out of sympathy.

However, over a period of time this became a well-crafted policy, fuelled from across the border, to disrupt security forces during the search and cordon operations. The trend saw a decline in the last six to eight months, before today’s episode.