167% Increase in civilian deaths in Kashmir Valley

The home ministry’s annual report for 2017-18 also showed a 2.44% decline in the number of security personnel deaths over the previous year. Civilian deaths in Jammu and Kashmir rose by a staggering 167% last year compared to 2015, official data released on Wednesday showed, underpinning the high price paid by the state while battling a surge in insurgency in recent years. The home ministry’s annual report for 2017-18 also showed a 2.44% decline in the number of security personnel deaths over the previous year. The report comes amid growing…

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Peace remains elusive in Kashmir as Valley remains on edge

Kashmir is the biggest internal security challenge that successive state governments and the Centre have had to grapple with. Modi promised to take Vajpayee’s formula of Kashmiriyat, insaniyat and jamhooriyat forward, but peace remains a serious casualty. April 1 this year was not an ordinary Sunday. That day, 17 local Kashmiri men died. Of them, 13 were armed local militants and four were civilians — killed when they rushed to the encounter sites to protest against military action. The bloody Sunday was a reminder of the festering insurgency in Jammu…

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100 Days and 90 Killings across Kashmir Valley

Like 2017, the year 2018 also appears to be heading for more bloodshed and violence. In 100 days since the beginning of the year, 90 people have been killed in the militancy-related incidents in the Kashmir valley till April 10. The dead include 45 militants, 20 security personnel and 25 civilians. The worrying statistics point towards a hot summer ahead as security forces step up their operations to flush out militants while more local youth are taking up the gun. Of the 45 militants killed, 25 were locals whereas the…

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Bullets can’t tell difference, civilians responsible for their deaths at encounter sites: J&K Police Chief

Jammu and Kashmir police chief SP Vaid urged the state’s youth to stay away from encounter sites to avoid becoming casualties. Civilians thronging encounter sites are responsible for their deaths as bullets don’t distinguish between a stone pelter and a militant, Jammu and Kashmir police chief S P Vaid said on Thursday as he again urged youth to stay away from such places as they were not marriage venues. Nobody wants civilian deaths and the police and security forces are pained at such incidents, he emphasised. “We have been appealing…

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Shopian repeated in Kulgam, 4 Civilians, Armyman killed, Over 60 injured in Khudwani

Army man, 4 civilians killed in Khudwani Over 60 injured in forces firing on protestors near encounter site Locals rescue 3 militants alive from debris of house Sharjeel was killed inside his house: Family An army man was killed in a gunfight with militants while four civilians died in forces firing on protestors during clashes near the encounter site in Khudwani area of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district on Wednesday. The three Lashkar militants, who were trapped in the area, were rescued alive by locals from debris of a house damaged…

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UN should play its part on Kashmir Issue, Pakistan PM tells secretary general

Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi says UN should play its part in stopping “Indian atrocities” in Kashmir and accused New Delhi of “unprovoked ceasefire violations.” Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday met United Nations (UN) secretary general Antonio Guterres in China and urged the world body to play its part in stopping “Indian atrocities” in Kashmir and accused New Delhi of “unprovoked ceasefire violations”, which he warned can dangerously escalate the situation along the LoC. According to an official statement from the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Office, Abbasi…

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Breakthrough needed to ward off conflict: Abdul Gani Bhat

Stating that India and Pakistan desperately need a breakthrough to ward off the ghosts of war, senior Hurriyat leader and Muslim Conference head Abdul Gani Bhat said an agenda with master strategy was must for generating “propitious political environment” in the region. Bhat made these assertions during a meeting of the executive council members of the Muslim Conference here on Sunday. He said if strategies don’t work out, no breakthrough could happen. “The Kashmir dispute involves two major countries of the South Asian region. Therefore, we will need an agenda…

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After Shahid Afridi, Shoaib Akhtar joins issue on Kashmir

Days after Shahid Afridi was roundly slammed for his controversial comments on Kashmir, former Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Akhtar also waded into the debate tweeting: “I wish one day in my life time I get a news of Kashmir, Palestine, Yemen, Afghanistan and all the troubled area of the world are free because my heart bleeds for humanity and loss of innocent life.” The tweet was later deleted. In another tweet, he urged the youth of India and Pakistan to stand up for the cause of peace between the two neighbouring…

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Kashmir tweet and now IPL remark: Shahid Afridi chides Indians

After coming under intense criticism for his J&K comment, Afridi has fuelled the fire by stating he wouldn’t play in the IPL. Shahid Afridi has been dominating the headlines for all the wrong reasons ever since his tweet on the ongoing Jammu and Kashmir attacks since Tuesday. Commenting on the ongoing political tension surrounding the Indian Territory, the former Pakistan skipper demanded an intervention from United Nations into the matter. However, after coming under intense criticism, the veteran cricketer has fuelled the fire by stating he wouldn’t play in the…

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Today KTMF & KEA call for shutdown, JRL calls for protests post Friday prayers

Breakaway factions of Kashmir Economic Alliance (KEA) and Kashmir Traders and Manufactures Fedration have called for shutdown on Friday to protest civilian killings in Shopian and Kangan. In a press conference addressed jointly by the KTMF president Bashir Ahmad Rather and KEA chairman Muhammad Yusuf Chapri, they asked people from all walks of life in Kashmir to observe April 6 as ‘black day’ in view of “unabated” civilian killings. “Forces are carrying genocide of Kashmiris in a systematic manner with impunity from the government. Every day young blood is spilled…

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