India imposes fresh curfew in Kashmir following violence

Authorities have imposed a 24-hour curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir a day after violence killed seven people, including five police officers, in the disputed region.

“There is a complete curfew in Srinagar and other parts of the Kashmir valley with additional forces being deployed,” a security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Thursday.

On Wednesday, police sources said some seven people, including five officers of the Central Reserve Police Force, were killed and a number of others wounded in an ambush on security forces in the disputed vally.

Following the attack, New Delhi accused Pakistan of being behind the killings, while Islamabad denied any involvement in the deadly incident.

In a similar incident, armed assailants shot and killed two Indian police near a bus stop in Kupwara district, north of the region’s main city Srinagar.

According to reports, tight security measures were taken in Srinagar on Thursday, with major roads being blocked with steel barricades and coils of razor wire.

Reports further indicated that all schools and government offices remained closed in the Muslim-majority.

Tensions have been running high in region since authorities hanged Mohammed Afzal Guru on February 9 in a New Delhi prison over his role in a deadly 2001 attack on the Indian parliament.

Guru’s execution cranked up angry demonstrations in Kashmir, where most people believe he had not gotten a fair trial.

Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 65 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full but each only has control over a section of the territory.