12 January 2016•Update: 12 January 2016
SRINAGAR, Jammu Kashmir
The Tuesday funeral of a prominent Kashmiri militant killed in a gun battle with Indian security forces last night has been accompanied by protests and clashes with Indian police.
Thousands turned out for the funeral of Sajad Ahmad Bhat, a militant with the Lashkar-e-Taiba militant outfit, who was buried Tuesday in his hometown of Panthachowk in Srinagar.
Mourners shouted pro-independence slogans and clashed with Indian police.
According to locals, police used teargas and stun grenades to disperse demonstrators.
Bhat was killed Monday night in a gun battle with Indian security forces in Srinagar's Zakura area.
"There are thousands of people on the streets; protesters have blocked the roads," Panthachowk resident Mehraj Ahmad Shontoo told Anadolu Agency.
"Police have used teargas and gunfire to disperse the crowds, but the protests remain ongoing," Shontoo said.
Bhat joined the pro-independence Hizbul Mujahideen group in 2007, later joining the Lashkar-e-Taiba.
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.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since the partition of the latter in 1947.
Two of the conflicts were fought over Kashmir.
Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu Kashmir have fought Indian rule to demand independence or unification with Muslim-majority Pakistan.
More than 70,000 Kashmiris have been killed so far in the violence, most of them by Indian forces.
India currently maintains over half a million troops in Jammu Kashmir.
