Srinagar: Government forces fired warning shots and tear gas Wednesday to quell a third day of angry protests in Indian-controlled Kashmir stemming from the death of a teenage boy hit in the head by a police tear gas shell.
Hundreds of protesters chanting pro-independence slogans gathered in at least four neighborhoods in Indian Kashmir's main city of Srinagar and hurled rocks at government forces, a police officer said on condition of anonymity in keeping with department policy.
Troops fired warning shots and tear gas to quell the protests, he said.
On Sunday, 14-year-old Wamiq Farooq was struck on the head by a tear gas shell fired by police just after a protest against Indian rule ended. Police later said the officer who fired the tear gas had been suspended for "a callous and irresponsible action."
Since then, clashes between rock-throwing protesters and government forces have spread across the troubled region. At least 63 protesters and 28 troops have been injured.
Shops and businesses in Srinagar were closed and public buses stayed off the roads for a second day Wednesday. Protests and clashes also were reported in the towns of Shopian and Baramulla.
Kashmir, which is predominantly Muslim, is divided between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the Himalayan region, where more than a dozen rebel groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with neighboring Pakistan since 1989.
More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the uprising and the subsequent Indian crackdown.
