20 killed as fighting rages across held Kashmir

OCCUPIED SRINAGAR: Twenty people have been killed in Indian held Kashmir in some of the fiercest fighting this year in the restive Himalayan region, police said Sunday, as authorities braced for more violence.

A total of three Indian soldiers and 13 suspected separatists died in several clashes south of occupied Srinagar, the main city of the region.

Four civilians were also killed and dozens injured when police opened fire on thousands of demonstrators who poured onto the streets, throwing stones and chanting slogans against Indian rule.

There were also demonstrations in occupied Srinagar, where authorities ordered all schools shut on Monday as rebel groups called for protests.

Seven of the alleged separatists were killed along with two soldiers in a protracted shootout in the village of Dragad, where helicopters were seen swooping low over the battle zone.

Another man, described by Indian authorities as a militant, was gunned down in a brief exchange of fire in Dialgam.

Many civilians in held Kashmir support separatists who have been fighting for decades for independence or for a merger with Pakistan. Tens of thousands, mostly civilians, have died.

Pakistan condemned the violence as a "mindless killing spree" and said those slaughtered were innocents.

"Such cowardly actions of the occupying forces only serve to fortify the resolve of the Kashmiri people," its foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday.

Last year was the deadliest of this decade in the region, with more than 200 alleged separatists killed in a counter-insurgency offensive dubbed "Operation All Out".

That upsurge in violence has escalated in 2018, with 51 alleged separatists already killed this year.