Updated at: 1233 PST, Saturday, September 18, 2010 SRINAGAR: Another protester was killed as fresh anti-India protests shook Indian Kashmir on Saturday, bringing the number of civilian deaths in a wave of unrest in the Muslim-majority region to 100.
One man was killed in Anantag town when police fired at demonstrators who started pelting stones when authorities retrieved the body of a man who drowned Monday when police allegedly chased him into a river.
"Security forces had to open fire to quell the violent demonstration," a police officer said from Anantnag, south of Srinagar, summer capital of Kashmir where a two-decade revolt has been underway against New Delhi's rule.
Authorities also reported another young protester died in hospital Saturday after being injured earlier in the week when security forces fired on stone-hurling protesters in Srinagar.
So far, 100 protesters and bystanders -- including children -- have been killed since June, mostly by security forces firing on demonstrators who were pelting stones, pieces of wood and concrete, according to a tally.
One policeman has also died.
The nearly daily intifada-like popular protests are the largest since the armed revolt against Indian rule erupted in Kashmir in 1989 and have confronted the world's largest democracy with its biggest internal crisis. |