SRINAGAR: Indian security forces on Friday killed seven Kashmiris during gunbattles in the occupied valley – the highest number of clashes in a single day in recent years.
Police said the fighters belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM). The JeM reportedly claimed a suicide attack last month that killed 40 Indian paramilitary troopers in occupied Kashmir and brought Pakistan and India to the brink of war.
Since the attack on February 14, Indian authorities say 22 militants have been killed in occupied Kashmir.
Occupying authorities on Friday imposed restrictions on the movement of people and vehicles in parts of Srinagar after protests against the death in custody.
Rizwan Asad Pandit, a chemistry graduate who taught at a private school, according to his family, had been arrested as part of a “terror case investigation”.
Police said he had been trying to escape and inquiries were being carried out into the cause of his death.
His brother, Zulkarnain Asad Pandit, rejected that and said he had been tortured in custody.
Indian authorities on Friday also banned the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. Its chairman Yasin Malik was jailed this month under a law that allows for suspects to be held for up to two years without charge.
