SRINAGAR – Massive clashes erupted in Zainakote area of Srinagar after thekilling of Islamic State Jammu Kashmir (ISJK) chief Dawood Salafi in agunfight with Indian forces in Srigufwara area of south Kashmir’s Anantnagdistrict on Friday.
An eyewitness said that a huge number of youth descended on theSrinagar-Muzaffarabad highway at Zainakote as the news of killing of Salafispread. He said the youth hurled rocks at the Indian police andparamilitary forces which retaliated by firing tear gas shells, reportedKashmir news agencies.
Salafi was killed along with three associates in Nowshera Khiram village ofSrigufwara earlier Friday. A civilian and a policeman were also killed inthe firefight. Authorities have suspended mobile internet services in allfour south Kashmir districts and in Srinagar to check the spread of anykind of rumours.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the Indian troops killed four youth,Dawood Salafi, Majid Manzoor Dar, Muhammad Ashraf Itoo and Aadil HussainMir, and destroyed a residential house during a cordon and search operationin Srigufwara area. The owner of the house, Muhammad Yousuf Rathar, wasalso killed while his wife, Hafeeza Begum, was critically injured in thefiring of the Indian troops. Earlier, an Indian policeman was killed andtwo troops were injured in an attack in the same area. In the meantime,five Indian soldiers and four policemen were injured in a grenade attack inTral.
Massive protests erupted in Srigufwara, Islamabad, Pulwama, Srinagar,Sopore, Hajin and other areas against the killings. Indian police andtroops fired pellets and teargas shells to disperse the protesters,triggering intense clashes between the demonstrators and the forces’personnel. Dozens of people sustained injuries during the clashes. Theoccupation authorities suspended internet services in Islamabad, Pulwamaand Srinagar districts.
A spontaneous strike was observed in Islamabad and Pulwama districtsagainst the killings. Complete strike continued in Tral area of Pulwama onthe third consecutive day to mourn the killing of three youth who weremartyred by the Indian troops on Tuesday.
Hurriyat Forum Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, addressing the 55th FoundingDay ceremony of his party in Srinagar, appealed to the internationalcommunity to take cognizance of the Indian brutalities on the people of theoccupied territory and take steps towards settlement of the lingeringKashmir dispute.
Hurriyat leader, Javaid Ahmed Mir, addressing a gathering Mazar-e-ShuhadaEidgah in Srinagar, also paid homage to the martyred youth. Hurriyatleaders Shabbir Ahmed Dar, Yasmeen Raja and Muhammad Ahsan Untoo visitedPampore and paid glowing tributes to three youth.
On the other hand, after the failure of its army and paramilitary forces tosuppress the Kashmiris’ ongoing freedom movement, India has now sentcommandos of the elite National Security Guard, a special forces unit underthe home ministry, for the purpose. As per media reports, the NSGcommandos, whose presence in Occupied Kashmir was cleared last month by theIndian home ministry, will soon be deployed during cordon and searchoperations in the Valley