SRINAGAR: A strike marking one year since a Kashmiri separatist leader was shot dead during a demonstration closed down parts of Indian-administered Kashmir Tuesday.

The stoppage, called by the region's main separatist alliance and backed by militant groups, closed down shops, schools and offices in Srinagar and other towns in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.

The valley was the scene of mass pro-independence demonstrations last year, which met with a hardline response from the Indian authorities. More than 60 Kashmiri protesters were killed, most of them in shootings by police.

Sheikh Abdul Aziz, a former militant turned moderate political leader, was killed while taking part in a protest close to the Line of Control, which separates the Indian and Pakistani parts of the disputed Himalayan region.

Four of Aziz's supporters were also killed when security forces opened fire.

Aziz, who was 52, was a prominent member of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, an alliance of Kashmiris opposed to Indian rule in Kashmir. — AFP