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Two militants were killed Monday in an ongoing gunfight with government forces in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir, while two civilians were wounded in subsequent protests, officials said.
The gunfight between militants and government forces broke out in Bamnoo-Keller of Pulwama district, 65 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
"Two militants were killed today in a gunfight at village Banoo-Keller," a police official posted in Pulwama told Xinhua. "Gunfight that broke out in the morning is underway in the village."
The standoff in the village began after contingents of Indian police and troops cordoned off the village during morning hours on specific intelligence inputs about presence of militants.
Reports said a trooper was wounded fighting the militants in the village.
While the gunfight was underway, locals staged protests shouting anti-India slogans and hurled rocks on government forces, in a bid to end the cordon and help militants escape. However, police fired dozens of tear smoke shells, pellets and warning shots to disperse them. Six people were wounded in police action.
"Two civilians have bullet wounds and four others were hit by pellets," an official at medical facility Keller said.
The gunfight in the village triggered hours after civilian protesters helped a group of terrorists break cordon in the Malangpora village of the district.
The protesters had clashed with the government forces Sunday night forcing them to call off the operation.
On Saturday, two militants were killed in a similar gunfight in Anantnag district, while as two civilians including a woman were killed during protests that triggered immediately after the gunfight.
People assembling at gunfight sites in support of militants and attacking government forces with stones has evolved as a new phenomenon of resistance in the region. Despite reprimand from police and army to stay away from gunfight sites, people continue to ignore calls and readily defy restrictions.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the psyche of majority of Kashmiris. Irate residents took to roads and clash with police. The youth throw stones and brickbats on contingents of police and paramilitary, who respond by firing tear smoke shells, pellets and bullets, which often proves fatal.
A separatist movement and guerrilla war challenging New Delhi's rule is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.
Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.
(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
