SRINAGAR, India, Jan 29, (AP): Violence continued to spiral in Indian Kashmir on Tuesday as five suspected insurgents and three Indian soldiers were killed in a fierce gunbattle and two people were killed as government troops fired on anti-India protesters, officials said. Tensions have been high across the divided Himalayan region as government forces allegedly have killed at least eight other people during two weeks of protests demanding independence. Muslim militants have fought in the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir since 1989 for independence or merger with Pakistan. On Tuesday, thousands of police in riot gear patrolled the main city, Srinagar, and shops, businesses and government offices were shut.

Police and paramilitary soldiers drove through warning people to stay indoors and not participate in pro-independence protests, said Afaq Wani, a Srinagar resident. He said it was almost a curfew-like situation. Sajad Ahmed, a police officer, said that no curfew has been imposed but that the state government has banned the assembly in public of more than five people. Troops also erected barricades and laid razor wire across roads to prevent public gatherings. “We’re imposing restrictions to avoid clashes,” Ahmed said. Similar restrictions were also imposed in several other towns in the region. In the violence-torn town of Sopore, 35 miles (55 kms) northwest of Srinagar, an indefinite curfew was in force for the fifth consecutive day.

However, thousands of people defied the government orders across the state. Clashes erupted as police and paramilitary soldiers chased the protesters who threw rocks at them in retaliation, said a police officer. on condition of anonymity. Both the civilian deaths Tuesday were in Anantnag, a town 35 miles (55 kms) south of Srinagar. Local residents said that one of the dead, Ishtiyaq Ahmed Khanday, 15, was not part of any protests and was killed in the compound of his home. A separate gunbattle near the India-Pakistan frontier broke out on Monday when a group of suspected militants infiltrated into Indian territory in the Nowgam sector, Col Vineet Sood, an army spokesman, said Tuesday.

Nuclear-armed Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Kashmir. India accuses Pakistan of funding and training militants in the Pakistani-held portion of Kashmir and helping them slip over to the Indian side to fight. Islamabad denies the charge. More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict since 1989. Police and paramilitary soldiers in riot gear patrolled deserted streets in Srinagar, the capital of the mainly Muslim Kashmir, and warned residents to stay indoors, witnesses said.
At least 13 people were injured in fresh clashes between protesters and security forces across the valley, police said.

India accuses Pakistan of fuelling unrest in Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part and over which they have fought two wars. Pakistan says it only lends moral support to what it calls is an independence movement by Kashmiris. “The discontent and alienation is in its peak now in Kashmir, and I don’t see the government making any serious efforts in addressing it,” said Noor Ahmad Baba, dean of social sciences at Kashmir University. Peace in Kashmir is seen as crucial for progress in relations between the two countries. The conflict in Kashmir has killed tens of thousands of people since a revolt against New Delhi broke out in the scenic Himalayan region two decades ago.