SRINAGAR, July 24: Indian soldiers shot dead three teenage boys and seriously wounded a fourth in revolt-hit Kashmir on Sunday after mistaking them for rebels, the army said.

The shootings in Bangargund village in the northern district of Kupwara prompted several thousand people to pour into the streets and demand punishment for the troops, police said.

The soldiers fired on the youths who had left wedding celebrations which continued into the early hours of Sunday and gone for a walk, police said.

They had ignored army restrictions on people going outside after dark.

The area is labelled “highly sensitive” by authorities as they say it is used as a transit route by militants sneaking in from Pakistan-administered Kashmir to battle New Delhi’s rule in Indian Kashmir.

“The four were asked to stop but instead they started running away, prompting troops to open fire,” army spokesman Vijay Batra said, expressing deep regret over the shootings.

He said the four youths were shot as they emerged from a wooded area. Their exact ages were not immediately available.

It was the second time in less than a week that soldiers had been accused of killing a teenage civilian, following the death of a 15-year-old boy in occupied Kashmir on Thursday. Officials said he was caught in crossfire between rebels and soldiers.

Troops battling the insurgency are often accused of human rights violations, including shooting of innocent civilians, by rights groups.

Authorities say they probe all complaints and punish those found guilty of abuses.

A police officer in Bangargund said on Sunday’s shootings triggered a demonstration in the village in which several thousand people including women and children filled the streets demanding action against the troops.

Demonstrators ransacked an army-run vocational training centre and damaged two police vehicles, witnesses said.

Batra said the shootings occurred after troops had laid an ambush for militants in the area which lies near the Line of Control.—AFP