Indian troops kill 3 militants in Kashmir; 35 protesters wounded

India’s forces have killed three militants in a fierce firefight in the New Delhi-controlled part of Kashmir, and injured dozens of civilians during a crackdown on the ensuing protest rally there in solidarity with the pro-independence fighters.

Police Inspector-General Muneer Ahmed Khan said on Tuesday that the gun battle erupted on Monday when soldiers and counterinsurgency police raided the southern village of Bahmnoo village on a tip that militants were hiding there.

Witnesses said three residential homes were blown up and destroyed by the government forces during the fighting.

Khan said the army troops were searching for the body of a fourth militant in the debris.

The daylong fighting also wounded at least six police and soldiers.

Afterwards, hundreds of civilians staged a rally near the site to help the militants trapped in the operation area escape, chanting slogans such as “Go India, go back” and “We want freedom.”

The protest turned violent as the government troops fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas to stop the march by rock-throwing demonstrators.

The clashes left at least 35 civilians injured, with five of them bearing bullet wounds.

SS