Boy's death sparks clashes in Indian Kashmir
October 8, 2016
Police and paramilitary forces clashed with protesters in the main city of Srinagar on Saturday as the funeral procession of a 12-year-old boy was carried to the graveyard, a police officer told the AFP news agency on condition of anonymity.
The anti-India groups said the boy was killed by government troops inside his home, but police said he was participating in a protest rally on Friday.
"We are taking all possible measures so that the protests don't spread to other areas," the officer said.
More than 50 people were wounded in Friday clashes. Sustained protests have paralyzed parts of the Indian state for nearly four months. At least 90 people, mostly young protesters, have been killed and more than 12,000 injured since the death of separatist Muslim leader Burhan Wani on July 8.
Since 1989, Muslim insurgents have been fighting Indian forces in the Indian part of Kashmir - a region of 12 million people, about 70 percent of whom are Muslim.
India blames Pakistan for supporting the Muslim separatists in the region, an allegation Islamabad denies. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars since independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which they both claim in full but rule in part.
Ties between New Delhi and Islamabad have deteriorated since the start of clashes in Kashmir. New Delhi said last week it had launched "surgical strikes" on militant posts across the disputed border that divides the Kashmir region between India and Pakistan. India is still reeling from last month's cross-border attack that killed 19 of its soldiers.
shs/rc (AFP, AP, dpa)