Fresh tension grips Kashmir

Indian authorities imposed a lockdown in the Kashmir valley yesterday, anticipating fresh unrest as separatists urged protests to mark the anniversary of a popular rebel leader's death.

Tension had been building ahead of the anniversary with three civilians, including a teenage girl, killed during clashes on Saturday between protesters and Indian troops.

Mobile internet services were shut down across Indian-administered Kashmir, roads into the restive valley were blocked and restrictions on movement were imposed in Srinagar.

Authorities have clamped a total curfew in Tral, the native home of rebel commander Burhan Wani.

The charismatic young leader's death in 2016 sparked months of violent street protests that left nearly 100 dead and countless more blinded by pellet fire following an Indian crackdown.

Separatist leaders urged shopkeepers to keep their businesses closed in protest to mark Wani's death, reported AFP.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on June 14 called for maximum restraint and denounced the lack of prosecutions of Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir due to a 1990 law giving them what he called "virtual immunity".

In a statement, Zeid called for a commission of inquiry by the Human Rights Council into all violations. Alleged sites of mass graves in the Kashmir Valley and Jammu should be investigated, he said.

In New Delhi, India called the report a "selective compilation of largely unverified information" that sought to build "a false narrative", adding that it violated the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, reported Reuters.