SRINAGAR, Feb 15: Twenty-two people including a teenage girl were killed in occupied Kashmir on Thursday night and Friday, police said.

It is the highest 24-hour toll in the past two weeks in the held state.

Police said four members of the Hizbul Mujahideen were killed in a clash in Kupwara district, northwest of Srinagar, on Friday.

In another incident, five Mujahideen were killed in a shootout in Poonch district, an army spokesman said.

Indian forces claimed killing nine freedom fighters in a shootout in Poonch district, 260kms of occupied Jammu, on Thursday night. Elsewhere two Mujahideen, a villager and the teenage girl were killed in separate shootouts.

HR ABUSES: The All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) on Friday accused Indian forces of stepping up human rights violations in the held state and called for a protest strike on Saturday.—Reuterss