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Indian forces kill 3 rebels in<br />
Kashmir, 35 civilians injured<br />
• Tribune Desk<br />
WORLD <br />
News<br />
9<br />
WEDNESDAY, JULY 5, <strong>2017</strong><br />
DT<br />
Government forces killed<br />
three rebels in a gunbattle<br />
in the Indian-controlled part<br />
of Kashmir while 35 civilians<br />
were injured in anti-India<br />
protests and clashes in solidarity<br />
with militants, police<br />
and witnesses said Tuesday.<br />
The 24-hour long fighting<br />
erupted Monday after<br />
soldiers and counterinsurgency<br />
police raided southern<br />
Bahmnoo village on a<br />
tip rebels were hiding there,<br />
police Inspector-General<br />
Muneer Ahmed Khan said.<br />
Witnesses said the fighting<br />
ended Tuesday morning<br />
after troops blasted and destroyed<br />
four homes during<br />
the fighting.<br />
Khan said soldiers were<br />
searching for the body of a<br />
fourth militant in the debris.<br />
At least six police and<br />
soldiers were injured in the<br />
fighting.<br />
The gunfight triggered intense<br />
clashes after hundreds<br />
of civilians marched near<br />
Kashmiri people carry the coffin of Indian policeman Tasveer<br />
Ahmad during his funeral procession at Srinagar, Kashmir<br />
AP<br />
the site to help the trapped<br />
militants escape.<br />
Government forces fired<br />
bullets, shotgun pellets and<br />
tear gas to stop the march<br />
by rock-throwing protesters<br />
who were chanted slogans<br />
such as “Go India, go back”<br />
and “We want freedom.”<br />
At least 35 civilians were<br />
injured, including five with<br />
bullet wounds.<br />
On Tuesday, anti-India<br />
protests and clashes spread<br />
to at least three other areas<br />
in volatile southern Kashmir.<br />
Reports said hundreds<br />
of men and women threw<br />
rocks after government<br />
forces fired tear gas shells<br />
to stop the demonstrators<br />
from conducting protest<br />
marches.<br />
India and Pakistan control<br />
part of Kashmir, but both<br />
claim the Himalayan territory<br />
in its entirety. Rebel groups<br />
have been fighting since 1989<br />
for Kashmir’s independence<br />
or merger with neighboring<br />
Pakistan. Nearly 70,000 people<br />
have been killed in the<br />
fighting and the ensuing Indian<br />
crackdown. •