Summary Nearly 100 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the worst violence.
SRINAGAR (Web Desk) - In occupied Kashmir, the death toll in the two-day operation launched by Indian Army against Kashmiri youth has surged to seven, police said.
The Indian army claimed to have killed seven Kashmiri youth in three separate encounters in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. A policeman was killed while two different gunfights also broke out in Poonch district of Jammu region on Sunday, with one resuming this morning as well, police said.
Indian Army Spokesman Colonel N N Joshi said four youth were killed near the Line of Control (LoC) in Nowgam Sector of Kupwara district on Sunday morning.
Superintendent of Police Handwara Ghulam Jilani confirmed the killing of the youth.
Meanwhile, gunfight erupted again this morning in Kashmir’s Poonch district, the same place where four persons were killed on Sunday, police said. A senior police official told media that the gunfight started again from the under construction mini secretariat building in Poonch town, the site of Sunday’s firing.
The victims comprised three youth and a policeman, while five others — a police official, a civilian and three soldiers — were injured.
Nearly 100 civilians have been killed and thousands injured in the worst violence to hit the Muslim-majority territory since 2010.
A curfew has been lifted from much of the region since protests broke out over the death on July 8 of a popular young leader in a gunbattle with security forces.
But the unrest shows few signs of abating, with residents continuing to take to the streets, while schools and most businesses remain closed, hitting the region’s economy hard.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the two gained independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the territory in full.
Several freedom fighting groups have for decades fought Indian soldiers -- currently numbering around 500,000 -- deployed in the territory. They demand independence for the region or its merger with rival Pakistan.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting.
