Three more Kashmiri lives lost to Indian troops brutalities

By News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Three more Kashmiri youths were killed by Indian forces in a brutal operation in occupied Srinagar on Wednesday, as troops continued rounding up Kashmiris despite criticism from international rights groups on the arrest of human rights activist Khurram Parvez.

According to the Kashmir Media Service, the three youths were killed during a cordon and search operation in the Rambagh area of occupied Srinagar. The operation was ongoing as the last reports came in.

Thirty kilometres to the south, in Pulwama district, Indian police arrested three Kashmiri youths in house raids. The arrested young men were identified as Ajaz Ahmad, Naseer Ahmad and Showkat Ahmad. A fourth Kashmiri youth was arrested in Bijbehara.

The killings and arrests underscore the continuing oppression just days after rights activist Khurram Parvez was arrested by India’s counter-terror outfit, the NIA. His arrest drew condemnations and alarm from Amnesty International, the United Nations and other international and local organisations.

Meanwhile, former occupied Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was “put under house arrest” after she tried to visit residences of slain civilians Altaf Bhat and Dr Mudasir Gul, who were killed in the Hyderpora encounter last week.

“She wasn’t marching towards the encounter site. She was scheduled to visit the bereaved families of the two

victims,” wrote Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spokesman Suhail Bukhari on Twitter, while responding to a news item about Mufti’s house arrest.

Mufti leads the PDP, a pro-India party, and has been increasingly vocal about Indian oppression.