Loudspeakers of several Mosques in Soura started playing militant songs.
Mujtaba Wani
SRINAGAR: Violent anti-India protests continued in Kashmir over the killings of Muslim protesters by the paramilitary BSF, even as a two day-old curfew across the valley was lifted.
The curfew was imposed on Friday, a day after the Border Security Forces fired at a thousands-strong crowd protesting sacrilege of the Quran and assault on a local cleric by the paramilitaries in Ramban district.
The authorities confirmed only four deaths, but locals have put the toll much higher.
The sacrilege and the killings caused widespread outrage in Muslim-majority valley. Separatist leader, Syed Ali Shah Geelani had asked people to observe a shutdown till today.
In north Kashmir’s volatile Baramulla district, witnesses said, at least seven youth were injured in clashes with the police who fired pellet guns.
One youth who was hit in the head has been referred to the Medical Institute in Srinagar for treatment.
Violent clashes between police and angry youth also erupted in old quarters of the city this afternoon.
Witnesses said hundreds of protesters tried to march forward from Rajouri Kadal area when the police fired tear smoke shells to disperse them. The protesters in turn pelted the police and paramilitaries with stones.
In the nearby Kamangarpora area, unconfirmed reports say a group of youth took position on the upper storey of a building with a huge stone, waiting for policemen.
As soon as a cop passed by they threw the rock over him. He is said to be critical.
Violent protests were also reported from Kadikadal, Nowshehra, Lalbazar, Kawdara, Gojwara, Shiraz Chowk and Soura localities.
A caller from Soura told us that loudspeakers of several Mosques started playing militant songs, even as angry youth took to the 90-feet road and clashed with the police.
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