India has deployed its army in Kashmir for the first time in two decades to enforce a curfew aimed at quelling weeks of deadly anti-India protests.
At least 16 people have been killed in recent weeks, with four protesters killed Tuesday after Indian security forces allegedly opened fire on stone-throwing demonstrators.
On Wednesday, the army patrolled the city of Srinagar and surrounding areas, with troops erecting barricades to seal off neighborhoods. Some demonstrators defied the strict curfew and briefly clashed with police who fired tear gas. There were no reports of injuries.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called a meeting of the cabinet committee on security affairs Wednesday to discuss the violent demonstrations against Indian rule in the region, divided between India and Kashmir. While Indian police and paramilitary forces routinely patrol Indian-controlled Kashmir, Indian soldiers have not been deployed on the city streets to control protests in about 20 years when Muslims insurgents began their campaign for independence from India or a merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan.
On Wednesday, Indian and Pakistani officials said their forces exchanged gunfire at the border, killing at least one Indian soldier and wounding a Pakistani solider and Pakistani villagers.
Indian officials say an Indian soldier was killed by gunfire coming from the Pakistani side of the border on Tuesday.
The two nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two wars over the Himalayan region.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
