4 civilians, soldier killed in Kashmir

srinagar — Four civilians and a soldier were killed on Wednesday as a fierce gunfight between militants and security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district sparked off violent street protests and a call for a two-day shutdown in the Valley.

Sepoy S. Gunakar Roy was killed when militants hiding in a house in Wani Mohalla in Khudwani area fired at security personnel closing in on them. Two other security personnel were wounded in the fighting.

The security forces fired back in a bid to capture the militants, said to be linked to the Pakistanbased Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

As the fighting raged, hundreds of people poured out of their homes and attacked the security forces with stones. The security personnel opened fire.

Doctors named the civilians who died as Aijaz Ahmad Palla, 30, who had a gunshot injury, Faisal Elahi, 15, Bilal Ahmad Dar, 17, and Sharjeel Sheikh 28.

Police issued a statement saying the civilian deaths took place as a result of crossfire between the militants and security forces.

This was strongly contested by locals.

In the end, the troops fired explosives to destroy the house where the militants had been hidden.

Two other houses in the vicinity caught fire.

But there was no trace of the militants, who appeared to have escaped in the clashes between civilians and security forces.

Clashes also erupted in north Kashmir’s Sopore town as news about the deaths of civilians in Kulgam spread. Unrest also gripped Anantnag, Pulwama and Shopian towns.

Student protests rocked Kashmir University in Srinagar, the Islamic University of Science and Technology in Awantipora in south Kashmir and Degree College in Bandipora in north Kashmir.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front Chairman Yasin Malik was detained soon after he and separatist leaders Syed Ali Geelani and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq called for a two-day shutdown in the Kashmir Valley on Thursday and Friday. —