SRINAGAR: Suspected separatists in Indian-administered Kashmir abducted and killed a military officer who was home on leave for a wedding, the army said on Wednesday.
Villagers found Ummer Faiyaz’s body early Wednesday, a day after he was snatched by unidentified men at his cousin’s wedding.
“Some unidentified terrorists yesterday abducted and then killed a young unarmed army officer,” an army statement said.
The killing comes amid an upsurge in violence in the disputed Himalayan region, where separatists opposed have repeatedly attacked government forces and banks in recent weeks.
Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947, but both claim the territory in its entirety.
Around 500,000 Indian soldiers are deployed in Indian-administered Kashmir, making it one of the most heavily militarised places in the world. Many local people deeply resent their presence.
Officials say the ranks of separatist groups fighting for independence have swelled since last July when the killing of a popular militant leader by government forces sparked months of unrest across the territory that left more than 100 people dead.
On Sunday, separatists attacked a police squad in Kashmir, triggering a gunbattle that left three civilians, one officer and an assailant dead.
The unit came under fire Saturday night as it reached a road accident site on a key highway connecting Kashmir with the rest of India, said senior police officer S.P. Pani.
He said the dead civilians were road construction officials of a private company.
One civilian and one police officer also were injured in the shootout, he said.
Police believe two insurgents escaped under the cover of darkness after the officers swiftly retaliated in Malpora, a village 65 km (40 miles) south of Srinagar.
Later, thousands of people participated in the burial of the militant. They chanted anti-India slogans amid a gun salute by militants who joined the procession.
Insurgents have been fighting for Kashmir’s independence from India or merger with neighboring Pakistan since 1989.
Last week, the Indian army launched a massive search operation in southern Kashmir to hunt for militants.
Off-duty India soldier kidnapped, killed in Kashmir
Off-duty India soldier kidnapped, killed in Kashmir
Protesters try to attack driver after truck speeds through anti-Iran demonstration in Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES: Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with marchers demonstrating in support of the Iranian people, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver.
The U-Haul truck, with its side mirrors shattered, was stopped several blocks away and surrounded by police cars. ABC7 news helicopter footage showed officers keeping the crowd at bay as demonstrators swarmed the truck, throwing punches at the driver and thrusting flagpoles through the driver’s side window.
The police department confirmed its officers were on the scene but didn’t immediately say if anyone was arrested.
Two people were evaluated by paramedics and both declined treatment, the Los Angeles Fire Department said.
Several hundred people had gathered Sunday afternoon in the Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian theocracy. The LA police department eventually issued a dispersal order, and by 5 p.m. only about a hundred protesters were still at the scene, ABC7 reported.
Activists say a crackdown on nationwide protests in Iran has killed more than 530 people. Protesters flooded the streets in Iran’s capital of Tehran and its second-largest city again Sunday.
