2010-06-30 13:46

Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard on a deserted street during a strike in Srinagar, India, Tuesday, June 29, 2010. [Agencies]

SRINAGAR, India - Police and paramilitary troops fired on thousands of anti-India protesters in Kashmir, killing at least three people in the worst street violence in a year, police said.

Faced with more than two weeks of increasingly strident protests in the divided Himalayan region, government forces have been accused of killing a total of 11 people in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Protesters demanding independence have attacked troops with rocks and sticks, and government forces have responded by launching tear gas, charging with batons and opening fire.

While anti-India demonstrations are frequent in the region, the latest round of street protests was triggered by a police investigation earlier this month that found Indian army soldiers had killed three Kashmiri civilians in May. The investigation said the soldiers staged a gunbattle in order to claim the dead were militants. The army responded by suspending two officers.

Clashes broke out across the region again Tuesday, and three civilians were killed in the town of Anantnag, 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of the main city of Srinagar, police said. Local residents said that one of the dead, Ishtiyaq Ahmed Khanday, 15, was not part of any protests and was killed in the compound of his home.

Meanwhile, thousands of police in riot gear patrolled the city of Srinagar, where shops, businesses and government offices were shut.

Police and paramilitary soldiers drove through neighborhoods warning people to stay indoors and not participate in pro-independence protests, said Afaq Wani, a Srinagar resident. He said police were imposing a de facto curfew.

Sajad Ahmed, a local police officer, said that no curfew has been imposed but that the state government has banned the assembly in public of more than five people. Troops also erected steel barricades and laid razor wire across main roads to prevent public gatherings.

"We're imposing restrictions to avoid clashes," Ahmed said.