Srinagar, August 13
Four persons, including three teenagers, were killed and 40 others injured in fresh clashes between protesters and security personnel in various parts of Kashmir valley today. Among the injured were 10 police personnel. And, the curfew, which was lifted yesterday, was re-imposed in certain areas.

Today, trouble began during a shutdown called by separatists to protest the recent killings during civilian-police clashes in the Valley. The toll has mounted to 55 (today’s four casualties included).

According to information, a Kupwara resident, Mudassir Ahmad Zargar, was killed while several other protesters were injured during the clashes. Subsequently, the administration clamped a curfew there. Similar restrictions were imposed in nearby Kulangam and Handwara towns of the district, apart from Pattan and Baramulla.

In another incident at Bomai, near Sopore, two teenagers, Mohammad Arif Mir (19) and Sumeer Ahmad Lone (18), were killed in police firing after protesters pelted a CRPF camp with stones.

Defying curfew restrictions, protesters clashed with the police and CRPF at Pattan, 27 km from here, in Baramulla district. An elderly person, Ali Mohammad Khanday (65), was seriously hurt in the firing and was shifted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical sciences here where he later succumbed to his injuries, the police said. The police said curfew and restrictions in most of the districts of the Valley, including Srinagar, Pulwama, Anantnag, Shopian, Kulgam, Budgam and Bandipora, were lifted to facilitate the prayers for the first Friday of the holy month of Ramzan.

APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq took out a peaceful procession at Rajouri Kadal in the downtown Srinagar. However, the mob turned violent at some places and resorted to the hurling of stones, the police said.

Referring to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent statement on Kashmir, Mirwaiz said “it was the same old policy of employment and economic package, which was meant to deviate international attention from Kashmir issue”.