Massive protest erupts in South Kashmir after the death of two militants

Srinagar: Amid ferocious stone pelting on the government troops, a gun-battle in India-administered Kashmir’s Pulwama district that started on Wednesday has ended with the killing of one militant, police said Thursday. According to police, Abbas Nengroo was killed today morning after 24-hour-long gunfight that broke out yesterday afternoon in Rajpora area of the district, 45 kilometers south of summer capital Srinagar. Also on Wednesday, government troops had killed a top militant of pro-Pakistan Jaish-e-Mohammad rebel group who was been identified as Altaf Baba alias Gazi Baba. One army personnel was also injured in the gunfight.
Baba was a local militant who hailed from central Kashmir’s Aglar Pakherpora area. “He had joined the militant outfit in 2008 and was introduced by Sajad Afgani of Pakistan to join militant ranks,” a senior police official said. Immediately after the operation on Thursday, massive protests broke out in the entire district that saw people raising anti-India and pro-Independence slogans. Protesters targeted police vehicles, following which police hurled teargas and resorted to baton charge to disperse the demonstrators.
Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region, is divided between India and Pakistan by a de facto border called line-of-co ntrol (LoC). Both India and Pakistan claim the region in full. Since their Independence from British, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. A guerrilla war has been raging between militants and the Indian troops stationed in Indian-administered Kashmir since more than two decades ago.