Dozens of youth injured in clashes with security forces in Kulgam

Srinagar: Dozens of youth were injured when security forces burst teargas shells, fired pellets and bullets to disperse demonstrators, who tried to disrupt a Cordon and Search Operation (CASO) in south Kashmir district of Kulgam on Wednesday.
Official sources said immediately after security forces launched a CASO at Tazipora Mohammadpora in Kulgam in the wee hours on Wednesday, hundreds of people, mostly youth, hit the streets in the nearby areas and tried to disrupt the operation.
However, security forces and state police personnel, already deployed to prevent demonstrators to march towards encounter site, swung into action and chased away them. The demonstrators later reassembled and pelted stones at security forces, who burst teargas shells, fired pellets and bullets to disperse the protestors.
They said several dozen youth were injured in the clashes. “The injured were immediately taken to nearby hospital from where four of them were referred to a hospital in Srinagar in a critical condition,” they added.
Meanwhile, authorities have suspended mobile internet services in the district as a precautionary measure to prevent spreading of rumours.