by Peerzada Arshad Hamid
SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Violence in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir Sunday killed 10 people and left many others injured, officials said.
Five militants were killed fighting Indian troops, while five civilians were shot dead during clashes that broke out after the gunfight in village Badigam of Shopian, 62 km south of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Health officials said many injured people were brought to hospitals.
The civilians were fired upon after they took to the roads shouting anti-India slogans and throwing stones on government forces apparently in a bid to help militants escape the cordon.
"Initially a civilian was killed near the gunfight site when people came to attack the forces in a bid to breach the cordon but protests continued even after the culmination of gunfight and broke out at several places," said a local government official on condition of anonymity.
"Four other civilians were killed when forces fired upon the protesters while moving out from the gunfight area as roads were closed and it came under barrage of stones."
Witnesses said government forces fired tear smoke shells, pellets and bullets to disperse the stone throwing protesters, leaving many of them wounded.
Local residents who bear anti-Indian sentiments often took to the roads and clash with police in the region.
At the gunfight site, government forces killed all the five militants during the standoff. Those slain were local cadres of the region's indigenous militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen and included commander Saddam Paddar, his close aide and newly recruited Mohammad Rafi Bhat, an assistant professor in the sociology department of Kashmir University on contractual basis.
A statement by the university on Saturday said the sociology teacher had been missing since Friday.
"We tried to persuade them (militants) to lay down arms and surrender but they rejected the offer and fired on our positions, evoking a similar response," a senior police official told Xinhua.
Sunday was the second straight day of unrest in the region.
On Saturday, Indian troops killed three militants during a gun battle in Srinagar city. A civilian was knocked down by police armored vehicle during clashes with government forces.
The region observed a shutdown in response to a strike call from separatist groups over Saturday's deaths.
Mobile Internet services also remained suspended for the second day in the region. Authorities have been imposing such curbs to prevent separatists from mobilising protesters.
A guerilla war and separatist movement is going on in Indian-controlled Kashmir since 1989.
