Indian forces martyr seven Kashmiris in fresh crackdown

New Delhi bans Yasin Malik's Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front

SRINAGAR: Indian security forces on Friday martyred seven Kashmiris during gun battles in the occupied valley – the highest number of clashes in a single day in recent years.

Police said the freedom fighters belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The JeM reportedly claimed a suicide attack last month that killed 40 Indian paramilitary troopers in occupied Kashmir and brought Pakistan and India to the brink of war.

Since the attack on February 14, Indian authorities claim to have martyred 22 freedom fighters in occupied Kashmir.

A Kashmiri villager looks at the remains of a house destroyed during a deadly gun battle between freedom fighters and Indian government forces in Hajin area, in Bandipora district of occupied Kashmir on March 22, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

Occupying authorities on Friday imposed restrictions on the movement of people and vehicles in parts of Srinagar after protests against a death in custody.

Rizwan Asad Pandit, a chemistry graduate who taught at a private school, according to his family, had been arrested as part of a "terror case investigation".

Kashmiri villagers carry a charred body of a twelve-year-old boy, Aatif Mir, during a funeral procession in Hajin area, in Bandipora district of occupied Kashmir on March 22, 2019. PHOTO: AFP



Police said he had been trying to escape and inquiries were being carried out into the cause of his death.

His brother, Zulkarnain Asad Pandit, rejected that and said he had been tortured in custody.

Indian authorities on Friday also banned the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. Its chairman Yasin Malik was jailed this month under a law that allows for suspects to be held for up to two years without charge.