By Zahid Rafiq

SRINAGAR, Jammu and Kashmir

Indian army opened fire on protesters, killing three, including a teenaged girl and wounding at least five others in Kulgam district in southern Kashmir on Saturday, according to police.

The slain civilians were identified as 16-year-old girl Andleeb Jan, Irshad Ahmad, 20, and Shabir Ahmad, 22.

The dead and wounded were rushed to the nearby Primary Health Centre in Frisal, Dr. Aijaz Ahmad, a senior doctor at the health center, said.

In a statement, police said: “An army patrol in District Kulgam while moving through Hawoora Mishipora area this afternoon was pelted [with stones] by miscreants. Consequently army tried to disperse the miscreants and in the process five individuals sustained injuries. Three persons succumbed to the injuries, including a girl.”

Soon after the killings, Internet service was suspended in four southern districts of Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian and Pulwama.

All Parties Hurriyat Conference Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq slammed the killings.

In a post on his official Twitter account, Farooq tweeted: “Firing bullets, killing young boys & girls reflects the #GreenSignal given to #IndianArmedForces to wipe off Kashmiri’s with absolute impunity to hold on to their territory. What bravery to massacre those that disagree with you! #Kashmiris refuse to cow down before the Indian might”.

Meanwhile, the region’s pro-independence political and religious groups announced a shutdown call to protests against the arrest of their leaders by Indian authorities.

On Friday, Dukhtaran-e-Millat chief Asiya Andrabi was arrested by India’s National Investigative Agency.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Also, in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.