Protesters try to storm airbase near Srinagar

Death toll from three days of violence in the disputed region rises to 30

SRINAGAR: Hundreds of protesters tried to storm a military airbase in Indian Kashmir on Monday as police put the death from three days of deadly clashes between government forces and demonstrators at 30, mostly protesters killed by gunshots fired by Indian forces to enforce a curfew imposed across the valley.

The unrest was triggered by the killing of a popular separatist militant commander in the disputed Himalayan region.



Thousands again defied the curfew to take to the streets on Monday. Police said several hundred protesters tried to storm an Indian air force base about 25 kilometres south of the capital Srinagar as the worst civilian unrest since 2010 spread.

“A few hundred protesters stormed the air force base,” said a senior officer on the condition of anonymity. “We do not know if firearms were used, but the protesters were pushed back,” he said, adding there were no immediate reports of casualties.

Protesters also set police stations and vehicles on fire. On Sunday one police officer drowned when his armoured vehicle was pushed into a river.

The demonstrations follow the killing on Friday of Burhan Wani, a 22-year-old commander of Kashmir’s largest militant group Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), during a gun battle with government forces. HM is one of several homegrown militant groups that have for decades been fighting around half a million Indian troops deployed in the region, calling for independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Around 300 people have been injured, including nearly 100 police, and hospitals say they are overwhelmed.



There were also reports of injured protesters being targeted – one local doctors’ association said on Sunday that tear gas canisters had been fired inside a hospital emergency room. Another group, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition for Civil Society, alleged that police had attacked ambulances taking the wounded to hospital.

The state government has called for calm and has cut off Internet and mobile phone networks to try to stop the protests spreading. It is the worst civilian violence to hit the restive region since 2010, when mass protests broke out against Indian rule.

Wani joined the HM at the age of just 15 after his brother was allegedly tortured by government forces. His strong presence on social media where he posted pictures of himself in army fatigues and videos of his band of fighters made him a rallying point for Kashmir’s youth and tens of thousands of mourners attended his funeral.

On Monday, separatist leaders said a shutdown protesting his death should be extended by two more days, and called a rally in Srinagar on Friday.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2016.