Partial shutdown in Valley against militant killings

A partial shutdown was today observed in the Kashmir region against the killing of threemilitants in a gunfighton Monday.

Most of the markets remained open andtraffic remained unaffected in most of the districts in the Valley, includingin Srinagar.

The hardline faction of the Hurriyat Conference headed by Syed Ali Geelani had on Monday evening called for a shutdown today to protest the killing of the militants.

Three militants, all residents of southKashmir’s Bijbehara area, were killed in a gunfight with the Army and the police on Monday in Siligam village of Anantnag district.

In Bijbehara, the hometown of two of the three militants, hundreds of people attended the funerals of the militants.

Residents later clashed with police and paramilitary personnel.

In the wake of the protests and shutdown, the train service in Kashmir remained suspended as part of precautionary measures.

Members of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association also abstained from court work in protest against the killing of the militants.

The Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Peoples League and the Muslim Deeni Mahaz paid their tributes to the militants. The religious group Jamiat Ahl-e-Hadees also paid its tributes to theslain militants.