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INDIA-KASHMIR-UNREST-PAKISTAN
Indian Kashmir in lockdown amid anniversary tensions
SRINAGAR, India, July 8, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Indian authorities imposed a
lockdown in the Kashmir valley Sunday, anticipating fresh unrest as
separatists urged protests to mark the anniversary of a popular rebel
leader’s death.
Tension had been building ahead of the anniversary with three civilians,
including a teenage girl, killed during clashes on Saturday between
protesters and Indian troops.
Mobile internet services were shut down across Indian-administered Kashmir,
roads into the restive valley were blocked and restrictions on movement were
imposed in Srinagar.
Authorities have clamped a total curfew in Tral, the native home of rebel
commander Burhan Wani.
The charismatic young leader’s death in 2016 sparked months of violent
street protests that left nearly 100 dead and countless more blinded by
pellet fire following an Indian crackdown.
Separatist leaders urged shopkeepers to keep their businesses closed in
protest to mark Wani’s death.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of
British colonial rule in 1947, but both claim the former Himalayan kingdom in
full.
India has about 500,000 soldiers deployed to its half of Kashmir, where
armed groups have for decades been fighting for independence or a merger with
Pakistan.
BSS/AFP/MRI/1500 hrs