Amid continous curfew and shutdown, one more woman injured in army firing yesterday at Qazigund succumbed to her injuries, taking the death toll in ongoing unrest to 43. The army on Tuesday regretted the firing.On Monday evening, clashes erupted at Chowgam area of Qazigund in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district. During the clashes, the forces opened fire resulting in injuries to at least 9 persons including several women, the sources had said.Soon, two injured persons identified as Showkat Ahmad Itoo S/o Ghulam Hassan and Sada Begum W/o of Ghulam Hassan Mir, both the residents of Churat village of Qazigund, succumbed and today, another injured woman identified as Neelofar Jan, wife of Fayaz Shah, resident of Churat village of Qazigund also succumbed.In a statement issued here, an army spokesman regretted the firing on protesters and said a probe has been initiated.
“The Army deeply regrets, the unfortunate loss of life in the incident at Churat, Qaziund where the troops were forced to open fire yesterday, when a large mob turned violent resorting to heavy stone pelting and attempted to snatch weapons from the soldiers,” he said.“Expressing grief over the loss of life and injuries sustained by the protesters, Army today appealed to the people to maintain peace and refrain from attacking Security Forces or their vehicles or establishments thus creating situations where the security forces are left with no option but to retaliate in self defence,” the spokesman said.He said that the Army also pledges to provide all possible assistance to the bereaved families and to the persons injured in the unfortunate incident. “An inquiry has been ordered into the incident,” the spokesman added.Meanwhile, the curfew and shutdown in Kashmir Valley continued for 11th day.
The Old City, Maisuma and Batamaloo areas here continue to remain under severe restrictions here while rest of the city observed a complete shutdown. Reports said that though the situation remained peaceful across the Srinagar but clashes erupted between youths and retreating government forces men in the evening. The major parts of north and south Kashmir also remained under curfew and shutdown today but there was no major incident of violence so far. All kinds of commercial and educational activities including commercial remained halted in all districts of the Valley.The newspapers for the fourth consecutive day failed to hit stands in Kashmir Valley due to government gag. The mobile phone services and internet also remained shut while only BSNL postpaid is working. The authorities have already made it clear that the cellular services would be restored only after there is a sign of improvement in situation.(GNS)