Anger spreads in Kashmir as 3 more youths die in CRPF fire

Three people were killed and three injured in fresh firing by security forces in Anantnag on Tuesday.

The government has clamped curfew in southern, northern and central parts of the valley, but people are defying it and coming out to protest.

The forces opened fire on stone pelting protesters at Anantnag and two people, Imtiyaz Ahmad and Ishtiyaq Ahmad, died on the spot.  Later, another youth, Shuja-ul-Islam died on way to hospital.

Eyewitness said security forces barged into houses and killed people. “My nephews were killed in our compound. There was no provocation,” said Farooq Ahmad Khanday, uncle of Ishtiyaq and Shuja.

“The Omar Abdullah government has succeeded in turning the state into a land of licensed murder,” PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said.

The violence in Anantnag has rattled the government since this axis is the vital road link connecting Pahalgam en route to the Amarnath cave in south Kashmir. With the Amarnath yatra just two days away, the hostility might compromise the security situation.

Authorities have withdrawn the SMS service and asked cable networks to beam news only for 15 minutes during evenings as a security measure.