Indian army raid leaves one dead in Kashmiri village

One civilian has lost his life and dozens of others have sustained injuries after New Delhi’s soldiers raided a village in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

According to police and witnesses, Indian force from a nearby army camp raided homes and thrashed the residents of Khrew village, located in the restive southern district of Pulwama.

The assault led to the death of a 30-year-old teacher, identified as Shabir Ahmad Mongu, and the injury of some 60 other people in the area, the locals said.

“They beat up men, women and children and took away many young men with them. We discovered the battered body of Shabir Mangu on a village street in the morning,” a local said.

A police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said around 28 villagers were taken away by the soldiers.

Kashmir lies at the heart of a bitter territorial dispute since India and Pakistan became independent in 1947.

New Delhi and Islamabad both claim the Himalayan region in full, but rule parts of it. The two countries have fought two wars over the disputed territory. They agreed to a ceasefire in Kashmir on November 26, 2003, and launched a peace process the following year.

Since then, there have been sporadic clashes, with the two sides trading accusations of violating the ceasefire along their de facto border dividing the disputed region.

A fresh series of clashes erupted in Kashmir on July 8, when people began protests against the killing of Burhan Wani, a popular pro-independence fighter at the hands of Indian forces.

There are an estimated 500,000 Indian troops currently deployed in the restive territory. The country has imposed a curfew across large parts of the territory since July.