ISLAMABAD (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators demanding subsidies on food, electricity and other services clashed with police in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, leaving four people dead and more than 100 others injured, police said.
The violence erupted when armed protesters, carrying guns and sticks, attacked officers who were deployed across Kashmir to prevent them from blocking roads and damaging property, local police officer Mohammad Afzal said.
He confirmed the deaths of three police officers and a civilian, noting that the casualties included at least eight officers left in critical condition after being struck on the head with sticks and stones. Videos circulating on social media showed protesters in Kashmir’s hilly areas punching police, beating them with sticks and pelting them with stones. Some demonstrators were also seen tearing off officers’ uniforms. Police officials said their forces did not return fire, claiming they had refrained to avoid further loss of life.
The prime minister in Pakistan-held Kashmir, Chaudhry Anwarul Haq, confirmed the casualties at a news conference in Islamabad.
He said the demonstrators belonged to the Awami Joint Action Committee, an alliance of groups that has blocked roads and enforced a shutdown since Monday in Kashmir, which is divided between India and Pakistan. The South Asian neighbors have fought three wars since their independence from British colonial rule in 1947…
Source: yahoo.com/news/
