Indian troops martyr two Kashmiri youth in IoK: KMS

SRINAGAR: Indian troops martyred two Kashmiri youth in Indian occupied Kashmir's Bandipora district Tuesday.

According to Kashmir Media Service, Indian occupation forces killed the youth during a violent cordon and search operation at Govind in Gurez area of Bandipore district. 

Earlier, four Indian soldiers including a Major were killed in an attack on a patrolling party of the Indian army in the area.

The operation continued till reports last came in, KMS reported. 

Last week, at least nine citizens of IoK were martyred by Indian troops in Shopian and Sopore districts. 

Earlier this year, in June, a United Nations report accused India of having used excessive force in occupied Kashmir to martyr and wound civilians since 2016, as it called for an international inquiry into the accusations of rights violations.

The first UN report on human rights in IoK focuses mainly on serious violations in the region from July 2016 to April 2018.

Activists estimate that up to 145 civilians were martyred by security forces and up to 20 civilians martyred by armed groups in the same period, it said.

“In responding to demonstrations that started in 2016, Indian security forces used excessive force that led to unlawful killings and a very high number of injuries,” the report said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein called for maximum restraint and denounced the lack of prosecutions of Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir due to a 1990 law giving them what he called “virtual immunity”.

In a statement, Zeid called for a commission of inquiry by the Human Rights Council, which opens a three-week session in Geneva on Monday, into all violations. Alleged sites of mass graves in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu should be investigated, he said.

India rejected the report, calling it a “selective compilation of largely unverified information” that sought to build “a false narrative”, adding that it violated the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.