1 civilian killed, 3 wounded after police open fire on protesting villagers in Indian Kashmir

Kashmiri civilian killed in Indian police shooting

SRINAGAR, India — A civilian was killed and three others were wounded when police opened fire on demonstrators protesting a roadblock in Indian Kashmir, police said Friday.

Violent clashes broke out in Yakmunpora village after police blocked a road leading to the shrine of a Muslim Sufi saint, said police officer Farooq Ahmed. “This is an unfortunate incident and we’re investigating it,” he said.

Yakmunpora is about 19 miles (30 kilometers) north of Indian Kashmir’s biggest city, Srinagar.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state, where most people favor independence from Hindu-majority India or merger with mostly Muslim Pakistan.

Since 1989, more than a dozen rebel groups have fought Indian rule in the Himalayan region, split between India and Pakistan and claimed by both in its entirety.