SRINAGAR: A prominent leader was killed on Tuesday at his home in India-held Kashmir, officials and residents said, as anti-India protests and clashes followed a gun battle that killed four fighters and an army commando in the disputed Himalayan region.

Fighting began early on Tuesday after police and soldiers cordoned off a village on a tip that fighters were hiding in a house, said army spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia. He claimed the fighters ignored calls for surrender and fired at the soldiers and in the exchange of fire the four were killed.

Police said one soldier from India’s special forces unit was killed and two soldiers injured in the fighting.

Residents said soldiers blasted the house with explosives.

As news of the fighters’ martyrdom spread, hundreds of villagers seeking an end to Indian rule hit the streets to show solidarity with the fighters, sparking clashes with Indian forces. At least four women were injured when troops fired bullets, shotgun pellets and tear gas to disperse stone-throwing protesters.

Meanwhile, police said gunmen opened fire on Hafizullah Mir, a top leader of Tehreek-i-Hurriyat, which challenges India’s sovereignty over Kashmir, at his home in the southern Achabal area. Mir died on the spot while his wife was wounded in the attack, said police and residents.

Political leaders and armed groups called it an assassination and blamed Indian authorities for it, while police called the killing the handiwork of militants. Mir was released from jail last month after two years’ imprisonment.

Tehreek-i-Hurriyat had said recently that Mir was receiving death threats over the telephone.

Most Kashmiris support demands that the territory be united either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country, while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2018