During a twelve-hour battle in the Kulgam district of India-controlled Kashmir that ended last Sunday morning, four militants, two soldiers, and a civilian were killed in the gunfire. After hearing reports of anti-Indian control militants in the area of Nagbal, Frisal village police came to conduct searches, which led to a gun battle between them and the militants. The four militants who died were all young Kashmir residents in their 20’s. According to Sridhar Patil, the police chief of Kulgam district, two of the militants belonged to the Hizbul Mujahideen group while the other two belonged to Lashkir-e-Taiba. These militants, according to the chief, had outstanding criminal charges, such as murder and theft from security forces. Sources say that the search was stopped briefly due to darkness in order to avoid civilian casualties. Police sealed all exits to keep the militants from escaping and the operation continued with the first light.

After hearing of the deaths of the militants, thousands of unarmed civilians, mostly comprised of local youths, gathered on Sunday morning to mourn the dead militants and protest the Indian police. The mourning crowds quickly evolved into a pro-independence demonstration, which resulted in the Indian police’s intervention. According to witnesses, security forces fired bullets at the civilian protesters to stop the demonstration, wounding, at least, 21 people. Dr. Abdul Majid, the medical superintendent of the district government hospital, reported that one of the civilian protesters succumbed to his injuries. A police report stated that “In the aftermath of [the] encounter, law and order situation occurred in which some individuals sustained injuries. Among the injured, one person identified as Mushtaq Ibrahim Itoo, a resident of Hatigam, succumbed to his injuries. In this connection, [an] investigation is going on.” The Deputy Inspector General of south Kashmir added that the youth died of bullet wounds from the security forces and that the lives of the other wounded protesters were not in danger.

Thousands of Kashmir residents participated in the funerals of the dead militants and the two civilians (the one killed initially in the search operation and the youth killed during the protest). Locals reported that the crowds were chanting pro-freedom slogans, and fellow militants gave a gun salute to their fallen colleagues. Kashmir is currently held partly by India and partly by Pakistan, though it is fully claimed by both nations. India currently has around 500,000 soldiers stationed in Kashmir. Resistance groups in Indian-held Kashmir have been fighting for independence from Indian rule or for unification with Pakistan since 1989. Since then, nearly 70,000 Kashmiris, including civilians, have been killed in the conflict. Most of these casualties were by Indian police and military forces.