Soldiers raided a village in restive Indian-held Kashmir overnight in an attempt to quash ongoing protests, leaving one civilian dead and dozens injured, police and witnesses said Thursday. Villagers said soldiers from a nearby Indian army camp ransacked homes in Khrew village and beat residents with bamboo sticks, leading to the death of a teacher.
"They beat up men, women and children and took away many young men with them. We discovered the battered body of Shabir Mangoo on a village street in the morning," said one villager who asked not to be named, fearing reprisals. Army spokesman Colonel N.N. Joshi confirmed the raid on the village 25 kilometres (16 miles) south-east of occupied Srinagar, saying "the incident is being investigated".
Indian-held Kashmir has been in the grip of almost daily anti-India protests and rolling curfews sparked by the killing on July 8 of a popular leader, Burhan Wani, in a gunfight with government forces. "One person was also found dead after the raid," a police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that around 28 villagers were taken away by the soldiers. The army raid - the third in recent days - comes after five weeks of unrest that have left more than 60 people dead.