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| India-Pakistan |
| IHK police kill 18 Kashmiris |
| 2008-08-13 |
| Police shot dead at least 18 people in Indian-held Kashmir on Tuesday amid Muslim protests against what they termed an economic blockade by Hindus over a land row. The authorities imposed a curfew in all ten districts of the Indian-held Kashmir Valley for the first time in 13 years, but about 200,000 people marched to the Eidgah graveyard for the funeral of senior Hurriyat Conference (HC) leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz, who was killed along with five other protesters when police fired at a demonstration on Monday. Geelani and Mirwaiz: Earlier on Tuesday, thousands of people stormed HC leader Syed Ali Geelani's house where he is under house arrest. The mob attacked police personnel and freed Geelani. Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was also under house arrest, was released later. Both the leaders led separate processions and attended the burial. They called for peace and communal harmony. Army was called out in the curfew-bound Kishtwar in the Jammu area, after two men were killed and 20 injured in communal clashes, police firing and a grenade attack, officials said. Security forces fired at protesters in parts of the valley killing three people in the Aribal area in Bandipora district, three in Lasjan in the outskirts of Srinagar, two in the Bagh-e-Mehtab area and one each in the Rainawari and Zoonimar areas in Srinagar area, and the Ganderbal and Anantnag districts, official sources said. Regarding the Bandipora killings, Indian defence spokesman Lt Col Mathur said the army fired in self-defence as the protesters tried to storm their camp. Thousands of people held protests in the town of Uri despite a curfew and attempted to cross the Line of Control (LoC), but police and army stopped them. |
| Posted by:Fred |