Ten people killed in India-controlled Kashmir clashes

Separate clashes in Indian-administrated Kashmir have left at least ten people dead as tensions continue in the region.

According to reports, Indian authorities said on Friday that the deceased included five policemen, a soldier, two civilians and two suspected militants.

In one incident, suspected militants ambushed a police patrol in the town of Achhabal.

In the ambush, five police officers were killed, according to a top police officer who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity.

The officer added that in a separate incident, soldiers and special forces, who had cordoned off Arwani village on a tip off that militants were hiding in it, opened fire on villagers who allegedly wanted to help the militants flee.

Two civilians, including a teenage boy, and two suspected militants were killed in the incident, he reported.

In a third incident, an Indian soldier was killed in cross border shooting.

Pakistani soldiers had allegedly fired shots at Indian posts in southern Naushera along the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir, killing the Indian soldier, according to an Indian Army spokesman.

Tensions are high in the Indian-administrated Kashmir region where the Muslim majority population stage regular protests against Indian rule and demand greater autonomy from New Delhi.

In order to maintain its grip on the region, New Delhi has deployed hundreds of thousands of troops to enforce a crackdown on dissent.

SS