SRINAGAR: Two civilians and one rebel were killed and at least 14 people injured Tuesday in clashes between protesters and troops and police in Indian-administered Kashmir, police said.
The clashes started when soldiers cordoned off a house in a village in central Kashmir in which at least one armed militant — who was killed later in the day — was hiding, said Javid Gillani, inspector general of police.
Hundreds of villagers, in a show of support for the rebels, threw stones at soldiers who had cordoned off the house.
Two people were killed in the ensuing clashes in which government forces fired tear gas and ammunition to disperse the protesting crowds.
“Doctors said one man died of bullet injuries and another died after he was hit by a tear gas shell,” said Gillani.
“Six civilian protesters and eight police and paramilitary personnel were also injured,” Gillani said.
One militant was killed in the operation and one weapon was recovered from the scene, said army spokesman Col. Rajesh Kalia.
Armed encounters between rebels fighting to end Indian rule over Kashmir and government forces have become more frequent since widescale unrest last year, sparked by the killing in July of a popular rebel leader.
That unrest left more than 90 civilians dead and thousands injured.
On Sunday, two militants were killed when police ambushed their car in the southern Kashmir valley.
With elections next month for two seats to the national parliament, security has been stepped up and the government has sent in 20,000 troops.
Three killed as clashes rock Kashmir
Three killed as clashes rock Kashmir
Meloni, Vance hail ‘shared values’ amid pre-Olympic protests
- Meloni said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, Western civilization“
- There has been anger in Italy ahead of the Games over the presence of some ICE agents
MILAN: US Vice President JD Vance and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, a fellow conservative, hailed their “shared values” on Friday ahead of the Olympics as hundreds protested against the US in Milan.
Prime Minister Meloni, one of the European leaders closest to President Donald Trump, said sport and religion were “values that keep together Italy and the US, Europe and the US, Western civilization.”
Vance praised Meloni for Italy’s organization of the Olympics and also welcomed “coming together around shared values.”
Meloni and Vance — a fervent Catholic who converted in 2019 — last met in Rome following the election last year of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff.
There has been anger in Italy ahead of the Games over the presence of some agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE as part of security for the US delegation.
ICE operations in a number of US cities have triggered large-scale protests, and the recent killings of two demonstrators have caused outrage.
Hundreds of students from high schools and universities in Milan gathered in front of the Politecnico di Milano to protest against ICE.
“This is all unacceptable for us,” Leonardo Schiavi, a protester, told AFP, referring to Vance’s visit and the presence of ICE agents.
Giacomo Calvi said he was protesting the American “anti-immigration police which are carrying out all kinds of violence in the United States.”
The Italian government has said the ICE agents will not have any operational role on its soil.
The agents will be from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations Unit, which is a different division from the one accused of violence in the US.
