SRINAGAR – At least 20 people have lost their lives in Indian Kashmir insome of the fiercest fightings this year in the restive Himalayan region,police said on Sunday as authorities braced for more violence.

A total of three Indian soldiers and 13 suspected militants died in severalclashes south of Srinagar, the main city of the region.

Besides, four civilians were also killed and dozens injured when policeopened fire on thousands of demonstrators who poured onto the streets,throwing stones and chanting slogans against the Indian rule.

There were also demonstrations in Srinagar, where authorities ordered allschools shut on Monday as rebel groups called for protests.

Seven of the alleged militants were killed along with two soldiers in aprotracted shootout in the village of Dragad, where helicopters were seenswooping low over the battle zone.

Another man, described by Indian authorities as a militant, was gunned downin a brief exchange of fire in Dialgam.

*Pakistan condemns India’s brutal actions*

Foreign Office on Sunday condemned “the use of brutal and indiscriminateforce by India that resulted in the loss of lives of Kashmiri youth”.

“This mindless killing spree exposes, yet again, the ugly, inhuman face ofthe state-terrorism that India has been perpetrating against the Kashmirisfor decades,” read a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

“We have repeatedly pointed out that the Kashmiri youth is beingdeliberately and systematically targeted with a view to breaking the willof the Kashmiri people. However, such cowardly actions of the occupyingforces only serve to fortify the resolve of the Kashmiri people,” the FOspokesperson was quoted as saying.

It further stressed that “no amount of Indian propaganda to paint thelegitimate and indigenous Kashmiri struggle as terrorism could succeed inmisleading the world.”

Kashmiris have been fighting for decades for independence or for a mergerwith Pakistan. Last year was the deadliest of this decade in the region,with more than 200 alleged militants killed in a counter-insurgencyoffensive dubbed “Operation All Out”.

That upsurge in violence has escalated in 2018, with 51 alleged militantsalready killed this year.

The weekend clashes were the worst since a three-day skirmish in theforests of northern Kashmir last month left ten dead ─ five unidentifiedmilitants and five government forces, according to officials. – APP/AFP