NEW DELHI, Feb 22: The Indian security forces on Wednesday fired at a group of youths playing cricket in Kupwara district and killed four, including two teenaged boys.

The incident occurred in village Doodipora in Handwara area, 95kms from Srinagar, when the troops were returning to their camp after an area patrol, the sources said.

Soldiers claimed to have opened fire after a man, moving under suspicious circumstances, had started running on a signal to stop for checking.

Four youths, including two boys playing cricket in a field nearby, were hit by the volley of bullets. Shakir

Ahmad Wani,10; Abdul Samad Mir, 20; and Ghulam Rasool Bhat, 21, died instantly, the sources said.

Shakir Ahmad Wani, a class four student, was critically injured in the shooting and succumbed to injuries at sub-district hospital, Handwara, they added.—APP