SRINAGAR, Feb 21: Thousands of slogan-chanting Kashmiris on Saturday held demonstrations against New Delhi following the death of two young men in a shooting incident allegedly involving Indian troops, police and residents said.

The killing took place near the apple-growing town of Sopore, 50km north of Srinagar.

Residents said two men travelling in a car died when Indian troops opened fire after a group of Kashmiri youths threw stones at them and chanted anti-India slogans.

A spokesman for the army said they were investigating the incident, which left a third Kashmiri seriously hurt.

“Initial investigations point to army’s role in the killings,” said a senior police officer of Baramulla district, of which Sopore is an important town.

He said thousands of angry Kashmiris chanting “we want freedom” and “Allah is great” took to the streets to protest the deaths.

Sopore is a stronghold of hardline leader Syed Ali Geelani.

—AFP