Three civilians killed in troops firing in Sopore, Pattan

Srinagar, July 31, 2010: Indian paramilitary forces opened fire to quell protesters, leaving at least three persons dead and 50 others injured. Several on them received bullet and tear-gas shelling injuries.

Police say paramilitary soldiers have fired on thousands of demonstrators in Kashmir, killing three men and injuring at least 50 others, as protests against Indian rule spread across the region.

Authorities imposed strict restrictions on the movement of people to protest against the killing of youths in firing by police and paramilitary forces since June 11 this year in Srinagar, Sopore, Baramulla, Islamabad areas.

Two people were killed when opened fire on a mob at Aramgarh village of Sopore, in Baramulla district this afternoon.  Shoukat Ahmad Chopan and Mohammad Ahsan Ganai were killed and a dozen others injured when Indian CRPF paramilitary forces opened fire on a mob in Sopore. Chopan and Ganai succumbed to injuries on way to hospital.

Doctors at the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) hospital in Srinagar said two youth, Ahsem Ganai and Showkat Chopan, were brought dead. Out of 50 injured in clashes, 10 suffered bullet injuries and were undergoing treatment in different hospitals. The condition of two of them is stated to be "critical", officials said.

India paramilitary forces used brute force and stopped people who took to streets shortly after Friday prayers and were heading towards Sopore town.  However, the protesters denied IIndian armed personnel in uniform opened fire, resulting in injuries to seven persons who were rushed to hospital. 

A police officer, on condition of anonymity, said troops fired on protesters chanting pro-freedom slogans in Pattan, Kreeri iand Sopore towns. Two people were killed in Sopore and one died in Pattan, the officer and a local doctor said.

According to reports, two youth were killed and a dozen persons received bullet injuries when paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Railway Protection Force Personnel (RPF) opened fire on a group of demonstrators at Amargarh in Sopore after Friday prayers.

Witnesses said the two men were shot when forces opened fire on a demonstration in Sopore town, both died on the way to hospital. "Both men had bullet wounds and were dead by the time they reached us," a doctor in Srinagar's main hospital told Writer-South Asia. 

Six people including a teenager identified as Iqbal Ahmad Khan was critically injured in Chanapora area of Srinagar city, when CRPF troopers opened fire on mob there on Friday morning.  The 22-year-old Iqbal Ahmad Khan son of Abdul Majid Khan who, among several others, was injured in firing by paramilitary forces in Chanapora Friday morning continues to be in a critical condition.  Medical Superintendent (MS) of the Soura Institute of Medical Sciences Dr Amin Taabish told media men that Iqbal's condition was still "unstable and critical". He did not elaborate further on his condition.

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: ‘Sheikh Aziz's town boiled"

Writer-South Asia is updated every minute of every hour with the latest news, features,analysis: ‘Sheikh Aziz's town boiled"

‘Sheikh Aziz's town boiled"

Pampore , July 31: In disputed state of Kashmir, braving restrictions, people mostly youth staged protests against India and killing of civilians by paramilitary forces firing and clashed with police and CRPF personnel across the Valley. At least three dozens persons were injured in paramilitary forces’ actions who used teargas shells and brute force to disperse protestors.

Defying restrictions, youth staged pro-freedom demonstrations at Pampore, Sambora, Khrewa, Awantipora, Lethpora,Chanpora, and other areas of Shaheed-e-Azemat Sheikh Abdul Aziz's town. The protestors clashed with Indian army, STF, and Indian Central Reserve Police Force, who used tear smoke shells to disperse the protesting youth.The protestors clashed with policemen, who lobbed tear smoke shells to disperse the agitating youth. At least 7 people including some women were injured in the police actions.

The locals said the police and CRPF men beat up pedestrians smashed windowpanes of several houses and parked vehicles at Pampore, Sambora and Awantipora localities of South Kashmir..

The residents of South Kashmir areas including , Nambalbal, Shaheed-e-Azemat Road, Drangbal and Sambora on Friday accused the troops of going berserk by ransacking houses and beating inmates.

Pampore  residents said huge contingents of police in presence of senior officials started pelting stones on the houses breaking the windowpanes.  “Thereafter the cops barged into the houses and beat the inmates including women and children,” the locals said.

Besides they said the cops ransacked the household items including electronics and furniture. “They kicked the TV sets and other electronic goods,” the locals alleged.

Residents of  Pampore said the windowpanes of houses close to the main road were damaged. “Almost all the houses near the main road bore the brunt of the vandalism as cops went berserk,” said the residents of Pampore while showing the broken windows of the houses.  

According to police, a mob of slogan-shouting protesters attacked the Naidkhai camp of the state armed police in Bandipora district Saturday afternoon.

'The policemen posted inside fired warning shots in the air which failed to quell the mob prompting police to open fire. Two people were critically wounded. One of them, identified as Mudasir Ahmad Lone, 23, later succumbed to injuries,' a police official here said.


A large procession of locals carried the body of the youth from Sumbal police station to Naidkhai village where more mourners joined them targeting security men with stones and rocks.


A teenager identified as Javaid Ahmad Teli sustained a serious gunshot injury when protesters in north Kashmir's Baramulla town attacked security forces deployed in the area. Teli, who suffered a critical head injury, was taken to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences at Soura in Srinagar but later succumbed to his injury while undergoing treatment.


Earlier, three people including two women and a boy suffered gunshot injuries in north Kashmir's Kreeri village where a mob attacked a camp of the local police.

The injured have since been admitted to hospitals in Srinagar city. A large mob of protesters attacked vehicles plying on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway at Pampore town,  14 km from here in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. The mob also burnt two vehicles of the Indian Air Force passing through the town during the protests.


All the occupants of the two vehicles, however, escaped unhurt. They took shelter in a local bank building before being rescued by the security forces. The mob had surrounded the local police station in Pampore and the security forces are trying to disperse them using batons and tear smoke shells.


In Sopore town, mobs torched a building at the local railway station and also a fire tender that had reached there to douse the flames.


In south Kashmir's Kakpora town, mobs hurled a petrol bomb at the vehicle of the local deputy superintendent of police. 'The officer and his guards escaped unhurt, but the vehicle was destroyed in the fire triggered by the petrol bomb,' police said. According to police, the number of protesters and security men injured in Saturday's clashes across the Valley is 12. Two protesters were killed in Amargarh area of Sopore town Friday when mobs damaged the rail track there and two more were killed in the adjacent Pattan town where mobs attacked and torched the local police station.


Chief Minister Omar Abdullah convened a meeting of his ministers and senior party leaders in Srinagar, which was also attended by his father and union Renewable Energy Minister Farooq Abdullah. At the end of the meeting, a spokesman of the ruling party said the law and order situation in the Valley was reviewed. 'It was also decided to release all the arrested political leaders and youth very soon. The central government would be urged to start a dialogue with the local separatist leaders without wasting any further time. 'The MLAs (legislators) of the ruling party have been advised to remain stationed in their constituencies and monitor the situation there,' the spokesman said. (Writer-South-Asia)

Pakistanis still consider India as a major threat than Taliban, AL-Qaeda

By: Johan Simith

 Islamabad, 30 Jully: Though terror groups continue to strike in their country, a majority of Pakistanis still consider India as a major threat, view America as an enemy and are far less concerned about the Taliban and the Al Qaeda.

While Pakistanis express serious concerns about the United States, they are more worried about neighbour and longtime rival India than extremist groups within Pakistan, according to the prestigious Pew Research Centre opinion poll carried out inside Pakistan.

"When asked which is the greatest threat to their country -- India, the Taliban or Al Qaeda -- slightly more than half of Pakistanis (53 per cent) choose India, compared with 23 per cent for the Taliban and just 3 per cent for the Al Qaeda," it said.

However, despite the deep-seated tensions between India and Pakistan, most Pakistanis want better ties with India.

Roughly 72 per cent said it is important for relations with India to improve and about 75 per cent support increased trade with India and further talks between the two rivals.

In spite of pumping in billions of dollars in economic and military aid, the United States' image in Pakistan was at its lowest ever among the 22 nations included in the poll. Fifty-nine per cent of the respondents described America as an enemy and only eight per cent trusted President Barack Obama.

Pakistanis perceived little threat from the Taliban and the Al Qaeda and only 25 per cent of the people said it would be bad for Islamabad if Taliban takes over Afghanistan again.

While 18 per cent said it would be good for Pakistan, 57 per cent were not concerned.

State Department spokesman P J Crowley conceded that there is a huge trust deficit between the US and Pakistan.

"We understand that there's a deficit in trust in our relationship. There are those in Pakistan who recall and sense that they were abandoned by the US and the international community, going back 20 years or more," he said.

Crowley said the US has worked hard in recent months to try to turn this relationship around.

"I think we recognise that this was not going to occur overnight. We have tried to communicate forcefully to not only the government, but also to the people directly, that the US is committed to the future of Pakistan," he said.

"We are, in fact, a partner. I think we're not surprised that people want to see fruits of this partnership; that's exactly what we're trying to do. It goes back to what the (Secretary of State Hillary Clinton) announced in Islamabad last week -- concrete projects that -- on energy, on health, on education -- that will create tangible results so the people of Pakistan can see it. And when they see it, then we would expect to see those poll numbers prospectively improve," he said. (Writer-South Asia)