Clashes erupted in north Kashmir’s Sopore town on Friday after some youth threw stones on forces personnel. According to witnesses, scores of youth assembled at Main Chowk and started shouting pro-freedom, anti-India slogans. They later began throwing stones at the police and paramilitary personnel deployed there. Witnesses added that the police and paramilitary forces in the area retaliated by lobbing tear smoke canisters.
As the clashes intensified, the shopkeepers downed shutters of their shops and traffic was also affected. Police summoned reinforcements to the area and chased away the youth. No one was reported to be injured in the clashes.
Meanwhile, violent clashes erupted in South Kashmir’s Anantnag town on Friday. Police and paramilitary forces wearing riot gear and armed with sophisticated weapons were deployed in strength in old town areas to thwart any attempts of protests. However, as soon as the Friday prayers concluded, youth took to streets amid pro-freedom slogans at Reshi Bazar and Sher Bagh areas and clashed with the forces.
“Youth pelted stones and bricks on the forces who in turn retaliated by lobbing tear gas shells, pepper grenades and using pellet gun to disperse them,” witnesses said.
They said that two youth sustained tear canister injuries and were treated in District Hospital Anantnag.
Few cops and CRPF men also sustained injuries in the ensuing clashes. Angry youths also attacked Sherbagh police station with stones.The clashes later on spread to Cheeni Chowk, Mattan Adda and Dangerpora areas and were on till last reports came in.
In north Kashmir’s Kupwara town, some persons including a school going girl and many police personnel were injured during clashes between youth and forces on Friday.
According to reports, as soon as the Friday congregation prayers ended, the youth took to streets and staged protest against setting up of proposed Sainik colonies while chanting pro-freedom, anti-government slogans.
The protesters mostly youth marched from Jamia Masjid Kupwara to Main Chowk.
However, police disbursed to tear smoke shells to disperse the agitated youth who were throwing stones to them.
Eye-witnesses said that a school going girl, several police personnel and many civilians were injured during the clashes.
Protests and clashes erupted in the downtown area of Srinagar city after the Friday prayers today. Protests and stone-throwing after the prayers were also reported from Anantnag and Kupwara and Sopore towns of the Valley.
Youths threw stones and engaged the security forces in pitched battles in the old city areas with some masked youths also raising ISIS and Pakistani flags.
As soon as the Friday payers were over in the grand mosque in the Nowhatta area of Srinagar, where earlier Mirwaiz Umar Farooq delivered a sermon, protesters took to the streets and started throwing stones at the security personnel who were deployed in the area.
The youths also shouted pro-freedom slogans and threw stones at the police in the narrow lanes and bylanes of the area. The police responded by resorting to tear-smoke shelling to disperse the protesters.
Earlier, the protesting youth also offered funeral in absentia to the seven militants killed in three different gunfights in the frontier Kupwara district of north Kashmir over the past 24 hours. One group of masked youth held a black banner reading “Allow abhaya in DPS.
Clashes and protests were reported from south’s Kashmir’s Anantnag town, where protesters took to the streets after the Friday prayers in Reshi Bazar and Sherbagh localities.
The youths also pelted the Sherbagh police station with stones. The protests later also spread to the Cheeni chowk and Mattan adda areas.
Protests and stone-throwing were also witnessed in Kupwara town in which several policemen got injured. Besides, scores of private vehicles were also damaged in the stone-throwing. Earlier, Tehreek-e-Hurriyat leader Peer Saifullah had addressed a Friday congregation in the town.
Clashes erupt in north, south Kashmir, Srinagar after Friday prayers
