In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, forceful protests have rocked Ajas area of Bandipora district after Indian troops martyred a Kashmiri youth in a staged encounter.

According to Kashmir Media Service, the youth, identified as Altaf Lali, was martyred by troops in a fake encounter in the Kulnar area of the district on Friday.

As news of Altaf’s extrajudicial killing spread, hundreds of residents took to the streets in Ajas area, raising slogans against the Indian army and demanding justice.

Indian troops resorted to teargas shelling and live firing to disperse the protesters, injuring several civilians.

In another act of tyranny, Indian authorities, mimicking Israeli tactics of occupation and dispossession, demolished the homes of five more Kashmiris in Shopian, Pulwama and Kulgam districts. 

This brings the number of homes razed in the past two days to seven.  

Meanwhile, Indian forces have arrested over two thousand Kashmiris during sweeping cordon and search operations and house raids in Srinagar, Ganderbal, Bandipora, Kupwara, Baramulla, Budgam, Islamabad, Pulwama, Shopian, and Kulgam districts.

The All Parties Hurriyat Conference spokesman Abdul Rashid Minhas in a statement issued in Srinagar has strongly condemned the ongoing wave of repression in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said the BJP government is pursuing a colonial agenda to crush and eliminate Kashmiris.

He further said killing Kashmiris in fake encounters, demolishing their homes, arbitrarily arresting and detaining them, and issuing domiciles to non-Kashmiris are all deliberate moves to transform Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir into a Hindu state.

The APHC leader urged the international community to intervene urgently to protect Kashmiris and press India to resolve the Kashmir dispute in line with the UN resolutions.