By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir, India (AA): One civilian was killed and at least 80 others were wounded Wednesday when local youths clashed with Indian security forces in a bid to help trapped militants escape a search operation.

“One of the civilians brought to our hospital was declared dead on arrival,” Abdul Rashid Para, medical superintendent of Pulwama district hospital, told Anadolu Agency.

He has been identified as Sajad Ahmad of Shopian district.

The first gunfight broke out in the morning in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district. Youths arrived at the site and clashed with security forces.

Kulgam Chief Medical Officer Fazil Kochak told Anadolu Agency that 50 civilians were transported to local hospitals while seven of them were referred to Srinagar for treatment.

All of those referred to Srinagar had eye injuries from pellet guns used by Indian forces.

While police in Kulgam said the militants managed to escape, the operation against them continued in Shopian until late in the evening.

Jammu and Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — two of them over Kashmir.

Indian and Pakistani troops have also fought intermittently since 1984 in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989.

[Photo: Earlier Indian troops had killed a civilian and militants. Women at funeral of top militant commander Naseer Pandith in his native village Kareemabad in south Kashmir’s Pulwama on May 16, 2019. Photographer: Faisal Khan/AA]