UN voices concern over deteriorating situation in Indian occupied Kashmir
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UNITED NATIONS: (APP) The United Nations Thursday expressed concern over the situation in the Indian occupied Kashmir where deadly clashes between protesting civilians and government security forces were continuing to take place.
"The basic point is we have concerns about the situation in Kashmir. We do monitor the situation and we have different levels of contacts with governments of India and of Pakistan," Farhan Haq, the UN Secretary-General's Deputy spokesman, said in response to a question by a Pakistani journalist at the regular noon briefing.
Three civilians were killed and 28 others injured in anti-India protests that erupted Tuesday following a gunbattle between militants in occupied Kashmir, according to international media reports.
The gunbattle began after police and soldiers cordoned off the southern town of Chadoora following a tip that at least one militant was hiding in a house, Inspector-General Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani was quoted as saying in the reports.
As the fighting raged, hundreds of residents chanting anti-India slogans marched near the area in an attempt to help the trapped rebel escape.
Citing witnesses, the reports said intense clashes between rock-throwing protesters and government forces erupted just a few hundred meters from the besieged house, with police and paramilitary soldiers firing shotgun pellets and tear gas to crush the protest.
Pressed for comment, Farhan, the deputy spokesman, said, "At this stage, this is one of the situations around the world that we monitor with concern"
Asked why Secretary-General Antonio Guterres does make a trip to the region like he was visiting the Iraqi city of Mosul, Haq , said, "He can pay attention without necessarily visiting. You are right that the place he is visiting right now, today, is Iraq.
Even when he does not visit countries, though, he is aware of the problems there and we have, as you know, we have many levels of officials, including country level officials who are there to deal with the various problems that arise."
Over 130 people have been killed while more than 14,000 have sustained injuries during the uprising which erupted on July 9 last year, a day after Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Muzaffar Wani, was martyred by the Indian occupation troops.
More than 750 people have sustained pellet injuries, with a majority of them on the verge of losing eyesight partially or completely.
