SRINAGAR: A young man was killed on Saturday during protests in India-held Kashmir following an alleged gun battle in which two Kashmiris were said to have been killed, according to police and residents.

Hours later, armed Kashmiris reportedly ambushed police vehicles in the disputed region, killing a police officer and wounding another.

Official sources said that Indian troops cordoned off southern Litter village on an alleged tip that some armed Kashmiris were hiding in a house, said top police officer Muneer Ahmed Khan.

He claimed that the besieged Kashmiris tried to escape from the security cordon while firing their guns but soldiers gunned them down in retaliation. One of the slain men was a top militant commander, he claimed.

As the fighting raged, anti-India protests erupted in Litter and neighbouring villages in solidarity with the armed Kashmiris, said the sources. This led to clashes between rock-throwing residents and government forces, who fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas to quell the protests.

Many were reported injured in the clashes while a civilian who was hit by bullets died in a hospital. One of the injured was reported to be in critical condition.

Later in the day, a police officer was killed and another injured after Kashmiris sprayed gunfire at two police vehicles passing through the southern Kulgam area, police claimed.

Published in Dawn, October 15th, 2017