18 injured in clashes as thousands demand end to Indian rule

(17 Oct 2008)
1. Wide of protesters throwing stones; clouds of tear gas smoke in the street
2. Various of protesters throwing stones
3. Policeman in foreground;protesters throwing stones in distance
4. Protesters running for cover after police fire tear gas shell; clouds of tear gas smoke in the street
5. Various of protesters throwing stones
6. Wide of policemen, with riot shields, picking up and throwing stones
7. Wide of protesters as they throw tear gas shell back towards police
8. Various of police running and firing tear gas
9. Various of police van firing tear gas shell
10. Wide of police on street
11. Top angle view of protesters clapping their hands and chanting pro-freedom slogans
12. Kashmiri separatist leader Mohammad Yasin Malik (wearing brown stole) surrounded by media
13. Protesters clapping and chanting pro freedom slogans
STORYLINE:
Thousands of Kashmiris demanding an end to Indian rule clashed with government forces who fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them on Friday, leaving 18 people injured, police said.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Srinagar after offering noon prayers in city mosques and hurled rocks at police who also chased them with batons, said a local police officer.
Twelve protesters and six police officers were injured in clashes in Srinagar, the summer capital of India's Jammu-Kashmir state, the police told The Associated Press.
"We want freedom," the Kashmiris chanted during protests called by the Jammu-Kashmir Coordination Committee, a coalition of Muslim separatists and local business leaders.
The street demonstrations were, however, peaceful in Baramulla, Sopore and Anantnag, key towns in the Indian portion of Kashmir, police said.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, where most people favour independence from mainly Hindu India or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan.
At least 45 people have died in the unrest since August, most of them killed when Indian soldiers opened fire on Muslim demonstrators.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, which both claim the region in entirety and have fought two wars over it.
Militant separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule.
The uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown have killed some 68-thousand people, most of them civilians.

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