Police fired shots in the air and tear gas at thousands of protestors in Indian Occupied Kashmir upset over damage to a mosque during a raid to free hostages seized by militants, a witness said. An AFP photographer who witnessed the demonstration in a village south of the state summer capital Srinagar said some of the protestors sustained minor injuries during a baton charge by police.
Protestors started moving towards the village mosque when they were stopped by police firing in the air, the photographer said. Three militants took five people captive on Sunday afternoon at a mosque in Kulgam. Three of the hostages escaped before police freed the other two on Monday during a raid and subsequent gunbattle in which the rebels were killed.
Police said no one was injured in the protest Tuesday in Occupied Kashmir, the scene of an militancy waged since 1989 in the Himalayan region that has left tens of thousands dead. "There was some trouble and police had to resort to aerial firing after tear gas proved ineffective to bring the situation under control," a police officer who asked not to be identified said.
He added that no injuries were reported and disputed protestor claims that the mosque had been badly damaged by bullets during the raid. Militants have often taken shelter in Kashmiri mosques in the past, leaving security forces with the dilemma of whether to risk a public backlash in the Muslim-majority state by pursuing them.