Authorities extended a curfew across nine towns in disputed Indian Kashmir as sporadic clashes between Hindus and Muslims continued for a third day Sunday and the death toll rose to three, police said.
Stores and buildings were torched during unrest which erupted Friday in the town of Kishtwar, 150 kilometres (90 miles) southeast of Kashmir’s summer capital Srinagar, after prayers marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Omar Abdullah, the state’s chief minister, said local authorities would do “everything possible to restore calm in the region”.
“Curfew is extended…to prevent clashes from spreading”, Ashok Prasad, the state’s director general of police, told AFP after reports of fresh violence emerged late Saturday.
“We recovered a third body last night from the village of Atoli” where violence broke out Saturday, Prasad said.
The curfew extension came as Pakistan and India accused each other Sunday of firing across their border.
There have been a series of recent cross-border incidents between the neighbours, who have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947 — two over the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
Rebel groups have been battling Indian forces in Kashmir since 1989, calling for independence or merger with Pakistan. The conflict has killed tens of thousands, mostly civilians.
Violence erupted in Kishtwar Friday when several hundred Muslims staged a march and shouted slogans demanding “freedom” from Indian rule before being assaulted by Hindus.
Residents alleged that members of the Village Defence Committees — semi-official local groups drawn mostly from the Hindu community and armed by the government to fight militants — used weapons during Friday’s clashes.
Chief minister Abdullah told a press conference the government was considering options, including a possible recall of weapons from the committees.
Yasin Malik, chairman of the pro-independence party Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, demanded that the government disarm the committees, calling them an “army without uniform”.
Shops and other businesses remained closed all weekend in Jammu, Indian Kashmir’s winner capital, in response to a shutdown called by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Businesses also stayed shut in Srinagar in response to a strike over the clashes called by separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, who had demanded “peaceful protests” following what he branded as “state terrorism” after Eid prayers.
The Eid festival marks the end of Ramadan.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan by a heavily militarised Line of Control, but claimed in full by both.
Indian officials said one of their soldiers was wounded Sunday when Pakistani troops fired along the Jammu border near the town of Samba, 172 kilometres (107 miles) south of Srinagar.
“One Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was injured from sniper shots fired by the Pakistan soldier. We retaliated and the firing went on for some time,” N.S. Jamwal, a BSF official, told AFP.
Pakistan Sunday accused Indian forces of firing on its border posts near the eastern city of Sialkot in Punjab province.
“Indian Border Security Forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pakistani Rangers posts near Pukhlian, Head Marala area, in Sialkot sector,” a senior military official told AFP.
“Intermittent exchange of fire continues. No loss reported so far,” the official added on condition of anonymity.
The official said that after the exchange of fire on the border in Punjab province, Indian troops fired across the border in Kashmir.
Last week India accused Pakistan’s military of involvement in an ambush in Kashmir, which killed five Indian soldiers and dimmed hopes of a resumption of peace talks.
Curfew extended in Indian Kashmir after clashes
