SRINAGAR, India -- A teenage boy and a young woman were killed during an anti-India protest that followed the killing of a local rebel in a gunbattle with government forces in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir on Sunday, officials and eyewitnesses said.
The protests erupted after soldiers and police cordoned off southern Kakpora village to nab a hiding militant, who was later killed in a gunbattle, said police officer Syed Javaid Mujtaba Gillani.
As the gunbattle raged, hundreds of angry protesters threw rocks at the government forces, who responded by firing tear gas shells and pellet guns to quell the protests, Gillani said.
However, eyewitnesses said the forces fired live ammunition and tear gas at the protesters, who were chanting slogans against Indian rule.
Local resident Shabir Ahmed said that the dead boy was hit by a bullet in the head and that the woman was killed after a stray bullet struck her inside her home compound. He said at least 15 other people sustained injuries by both bullets and tear gas shells.
Gillani said that the boy was hit by a tear gas shell during the protest and that others sustained injuries in crossfire during the gunbattle with the militant. He said at least 10 policemen and two army soldiers were injured in the clashes with the protesters.
Separatists called for a shutdown on Monday against the killings.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where rebel groups have fought since 1989 for either independence or a merger with neighbouring Pakistan. India and Pakistan each administer a portion of Kashmir, but both claim the region in its entirety.
Since 1989, an armed uprising and an ensuing Indian crackdown in the region have killed an estimated 68,000 people.
