SRINAGAR, India: Two young men and a teenage girl were killed in disputed Kashmir on Saturday when government forces fired at anti-India protesters who disrupted a military-led operation against rebels, police and medics said.
As soldiers and counterinsurgency police launched a cordon and search operation in southern Redwani village, hundreds of villagers confronted them by chanting anti-India slogans and throwing stones, police said.
The clashes intensified as residents from neighboring villages joined the protesters, leading to confrontations at several locations in the area, police said.
Residents said soldiers fired live ammunition, shotgun pellets and tear gas to quell the protests, wounding several people.
Medics said three injured died at a hospital.
The news of the deaths brought more residents to the streets seeking the end of Indian rule over Kashmir.
In recent years, Kashmiris, mainly youths, have displayed open solidarity with anti-India rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during India’s counterinsurgency operations in the region.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, a Himalayan territory divided between India and Pakistan but claimed by both in its entirety. In recent years, the Indian-controlled portion has seen renewed rebel attacks and repeated public protests against Indian rule.
Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989, demanding that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.
India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Pakistan denies.
Most Kashmiris support the rebels’ cause while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.
Troops fire at anti-India protesters in Kashmir; 3 killed
Troops fire at anti-India protesters in Kashmir; 3 killed
- Two young men and a teenage girl were killed
- Residents said soldiers fired live ammunition, shotgun pellets and tear gas to quell the protests, wounding several people
Drone-backed militants attack Nigerian army base, several soldiers dead
- The militants struck the Sabon Gari base before dawn
- The army regained control after reinforcements arrived
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria: Islamist militants backed by armed drones raided an army base in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state, killing several troops in the early hours of Thursday, the military said, in the second assault reported there this week.
The use of drones by the fighters from Daesh West Africa Province (Daesh-WAP) in recent attacks has marked a significant escalation in the violence in the region, military spokesman Lt. Col. Sani Uba said.
The militants struck the Sabon Gari base before dawn, storming the perimeter and briefly breaching part of the facility, Uba said.
While they were fighting, their drone bombardment destroyed several military vehicles, including an excavator and a low-bed trailer, he added.
The army regained control after reinforcements arrived, repelled the attack and were pursuing the militants, Uba said.
Some soldiers and Civilian Joint Task Force members “paid the supreme price,” he said, without giving details on the numbers.
Two security sources told Reuters at least nine soldiers and two task force members were killed, with around 16 others wounded.
Nigeria’s military has pushed deeper into insurgent strongholds in the northeast this year as part of a renewed offensive against militant groups.
But despite repeated operations, Boko Haram and its splinter faction Daesh-WAP continue to mount large-scale attacks, exploiting difficult terrain, porous borders and a weak state presence across parts of the arid northeast. Borno, where Boko Haram and Daesh-WAP fighters have intensified attacks on military convoys and civilians, remains the epicenter of the 17-year Islamist insurgency.
