Kashmiris block road after Indian army kills two laborers

Army guards killed men on Friday at Rajouri base gate, protesting Kashmiris

Picture source: AP/Dar Yasin

Following the death of two Kashmiris who were labourers at an Indian army installation hundreds of demonstrators shut down a part of the main road through Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) on Friday.

Protesting Kashmiris said that the army guards had shot and killed the men early on Friday at the gate of a base in Rajouri, 150 kilometres south of Srinagar.

The Indian military said that the two Kashmiris were killed by militants outside the Rajouri military hospital.

Hours after the gunshot protesters set tires on fire and stoned the military base. Two men were hurt in the protests, according to a media report quoting a police official who declined to be identified.

Although nuclear-armed India only has partial authority over Kashmir which is primarily populated by Muslims it has been claiming the whole region.

The liberation struggle in the occupied valley has been rekindled as a result of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government’s intention to separate IIOJK into two federally controlled regions in 2019.