TWO KILLED AS ARMY OPENS FIRE AT PROTESTERS IN SHOPIAN

SRINAGAR: Two civilians were killed after the Indian Army opened fire at protesters in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Saturday, officials said.

Shopian SP Ambarkar Shriram Dinkar confirmed the deaths. “A convoy was passing through Ganaupora when protesters started pelting stones at them. The casualties occurred when the Army retaliated,” he said, adding a third person has been admitted to a Srinagar hospital. The deceased were identified as Javed Bhat and Suhail Lone, both in their 20s.

A Srinagar-based Army spokesperson said security personnel opened fire only after taking “the extreme gravity of the situation” into account. According to him, a group of 200-250 people targeted a convoy at Ganaupura Chowk and tried to set the vehicles on fire. A junior commissioned officer was allegedly hit in the head, after which some of the attackers “tried to snatch his weapon and lynch him”. As many as seven Army personnel were injured and 11 vehicles damaged, the spokesperson claimed.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti called up defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman to express anguish over the civilian deaths. “The chief minister said every civilian killing, notwithstanding how erroneously made, impairs a political process that has been put on track through hard work by all political parties in the state,” a government press statement read. Sitharaman assured the chief minister that she would seek a detailed report on the matter and ensure that such incidents do not recur.