Thousands protest killing of two men in Indian Kashmir

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) – Thousands of Kashmiris Saturday held noisy anti-India demonstrations following the death of two young men in a shooting incident allegedly involving Indian troops, police and residents said.

The killings took place Saturday evening near the apple-growing town of Sopore, 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the summer capital Srinagar.

Residents said two men traveling in a car died when soldiers opened fire after a group of Kashmiri youths threw stones at them and chanted anti-India slogans.

A spokesman for the army said they were investigating the incident, which left a third Kashmiri seriously hurt.

"Initial investigations point to army's role in the killings," said a senior police officer of Baramulla district, of which Sopore is an important town.

He said thousands of angry Kashmiris chanting "we want freedom" and "Allah is great" took to the streets to protest the deaths.

Sopore is a stronghold of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani.

Kashmir is in the grip of a nearly two decade old insurgency against Indian rule that has so far left more than 47,000 people dead, according to official figures.

Anti-India sentiments run deep in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley, which last year witnessed some of the biggest pro-freedom protests. Over 50 Muslims were killed, mostly by security forces.