SRINAGAR, Sept 12: Two people were killed and 80 wounded in occupied Kashmir on Friday when troops fired bullets and teargas shells to break up renewed protests by Muslims against New Delhi’s rule in the disputed region.

The shooting took place in two separate towns near Srinagar, as several thousand worshippers demonstrated after weekly Friday prayers.

“I saw several people falling down when forces fired indiscriminately,” witness Muzamil Ahmad told Reuters by telephone. At least 21 people were hit by bullets and were rushed to a local hospital, officials said.

Protesters later threw stones in clashes with police, witnesses said. “Oppressors, get out of Kashmir,” shouted the Srinagar protesters.

Clashes between police and stone-throwing protesters broke out in several other areas of Kashmir, witnesses said.

Yasin Malik, the chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was injured when police used teargas and batons to disperse thousands of demonstrators he was leading in Srinagar.

Malik shouted “Allahu Akbar, we will break the chains,” before police fired teargas, witnesses said. “Malik fell unconscious and was immediately removed to the hospital,” said Showkat Bakhshi, a JKLF spokesman.

At least 37 protesters have been killed by security forces in the Muslim-majority valley since last month, when some of the largest pro-independence rallies broke out since a revolt against New Delhi’s rule in 1989.—Reuters