Eight protesters were injured on Tuesday in clashes with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district where a gunfight was on between holed-up guerrillas and the security forces, said police."A mob of stone-pelting protesters attacked security forces in Gadoora village of Pulwama district where a gunfight was going on between hiding militants and security forces."Security forces had established a firm cordon around the site when the mob attacked them with stones. Tear smoke shells were used to quell the mob," a senior police officer told IANS here.Reports from the area said eight protesters had been injured in the clashes with the security forces - six sustaining pellet injuries while two had sustained injuries caused by smoke shells.The injured have been shifted to hospital for treatment.
The security forces had surrounded Gadoora village in Pulwama district following information about presence of a group of guerrillas hiding there.Police said as the security forces tightened the cordon, hiding guerrillas fired at them triggering a gunfight.Police said firing exchanges between the guerrillas and the security forces had stopped, but searches were still on in the area.Security forces especially in south Kashmir areas have been battling a new dimension of anti-militancy operations for the last nearly one year.Whenever reports of a gunfight spread to adjacent villages, groups of protesters engage the security forces in heavy stone pelting from outside the cordoned off area to break the siege around houses where guerrillas remain holed up.