SRINAGAR, India: Anti-India protests and clashes erupted in the main city of disputed Kashmir on Wednesday shortly after a gunbattle raged between militants and government forces.
The gunbattle began early Wednesday after troops cordoned off a neighborhood in Srinagar on a tip that some rebels were present in a civilian home, police said. The exchange of gunfire lasted for about half an hour, police said but refused to give any information about casualties on either side.
Residents said they also heard loud explosions during the fighting.
As the news of the fighting spread, anti-India protests and clashes erupted in several places in downtown Srinagar. Demonstrators tried to reach the site of the standoff and threw stones at police and paramilitary soldiers in solidarity with rebels.
Government forces fired tear gas to stop the protesters. There were no reports of injuries.
Authorities limited communications, including Internet on mobile phones, as is routine during such fighting to make organizing anti-India protests difficult.
Clashes between government troops and residents had occurred during the day Tuesday during the last phase of local council elections that had low turnout in Muslim-dominated areas. Separatists and armed rebel groups had called for a boycott, viewing the polls as an illegitimate exercise under military occupation.
India and Pakistan each administer part of Kashmir, but both claim it in its entirety.
Most Kashmiris support rebel demands that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control. In recent years, mainly young Kashmiris have displayed open solidarity with the rebels and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations.
Rebels have been fighting Indian control since 1989. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the rebels, a charge Pakistan denies.
Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown.
Anti-India clashes, gunbattle erupt in Kashmir’s main city
Anti-India clashes, gunbattle erupt in Kashmir’s main city
- The exchange of gunfire lasted for about half an hour
- Police refused to give any information about casualties on either side
Nine Nigerian troops killed, several missing in jihadist ambush
- “We lost nine soldiers in an ambush by Daesh-WAP terrorists and many others are still missing,” a military officer said
- The soldiers dispersed in all directions following sustained gunfire from the militants
KANO, Nigeria: At least nine Nigerian soldiers were killed and over a dozen are missing after Daesh-aligned militants ambushed a military patrol in northeast Borno state, military and militia sources told AFP Tuesday.
Fighters from Daesh West Africa Province (Daesh-WAP) on Friday used explosives and guns to attack a column of more than 30 troops on foot patrol outside the town of Damask near the border with Niger, the sources said.
“We lost nine soldiers in an ambush by Daesh-WAP terrorists and many others are still missing,” a military officer said.
The soldiers, who were 25 kilometers (15 miles) from their base, dispersed in all directions following sustained gunfire from the militants, said the officer who asked not to be identified.
“The terrorists detonated an explosive device they had planted on the road in advance, increasing the casualties and confusion among the soldiers,” he said.
Eight soldiers managed to return to base while the rest remain missing, including their commander with the rank of a major, the officer said.
“A man who identified himself as an Daesh-WAP terrorist keeps answering the call to the commander’s mobile phone, suggesting he is in the hands of the terrorists,” he added.
Ya-Mulam Kadai, a spokesman for government-funded anti-militant militia assisting the military in Damask, gave the same casualty toll.
The nine bodies of the slain soldiers were recovered by a military search team deployed at the scene of the attack, he said.
The military did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.
The Nigerian military has in recent weeks intensified ground operations against Daesh-WAP, particularly in its Sambisa forest stronghold, with the military making regular claims of killing huge numbers of militant fighters.
Daesh-WAP and rival Boko Haram factions have been attacking military targets, raiding bases, laying ambush and planting explosives against patrols on highways.
Nigeria’s insurgency has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced around two million in the northeast since it erupted in 2009, according to the United Nations.
The conflict has spilled into neighboring Niger, Cameroon and Chad, leading the region to launch a military coalition to fight the militant groups.
