Separatist protesters defy rigid curfew in Indian Kashmir, 2 more die in clashes

2 dead in clashes despite curfew in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India — Violence continued to rage across Indian Kashmir on Saturday with two people shot dead and five wounded after police in two towns opened fire on protesters who attacked their camps and pelted them with rocks.

An indefinite curfew was ordered a day after four people were killed and another 80 wounded as government forces fired on thousands of protesters across the troubled region.

The recent tension in the Himalayan region — divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both — is reminiscent of the late 1980s, when protests against New Delhi’s rule sparked an armed conflict. More than 68,000 people have been killed, mostly civilians, in the conflict.

The mostly Muslim region, where resistance to rule by predominantly Hindu India is strong, has spent most of the past six weeks under curfew following violent street demonstrations by Kashmiri Muslims and strikes ordered by separatist groups.

Six deaths in two days raised the number of people killed in clashes to 23 in the past six weeks.

Thousands defied the curfew Saturday to protest, a police officer said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters. At least 10 people were wounded, he said.

Demonstrators attacked a police camp in Naidkhai, a village 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the main city Srinagar, and officers responded with gunfire, killing one and wounding another three, the officer said.

Another person was killed and two were wounded when government forces fired on hundreds of rock-throwing protesters in Baramulla, a town north of Srinagar, the police officer said.

Protesters chanting pro-independence slogans set fire to two vehicles of the Indian air force in Pampore, a town on the outskirts of Srinagar, the officer said.

Government forces rescued more than 35 air force personnel from the vehicles amid clashes with the demonstrators that left 10 police and eight protesters injured, the officer said.

Elsewhere, angry villagers set a railroad station and two vehicles on fire on the outskirts of Sopore, a town northwest of Srinagar. Two people were killed there by paramilitary soldiers’ gunfire Friday, the officer said.

Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear patrolled Kashmir’s towns, warning residents to stay indoors.

India and Pakistan have fought two wars over control of Kashmir since 1947. Both claim the region in entirety.

Separatist politicians and militants reject Indian sovereignty over Kashmir and want to carve out a separate homeland or merge with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.