Kashmir in flames, as Abdullah tries fire-fighting (Roundup)

SRINAGAR - Security forces shot dead three more Kashmiri youth Tuesday, taking the toll to eight in the last four days, sparking anger across the valley. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah made an emotional appeal for peace, asking parents to stop their children from throwing stones at the security forces.

Police said Imtiyaz Ahmad, 23, Ishtiyaq Ahmad, 20, and Sajjad-ul-Islam, 24, were killed and two others critically injured Tuesday afternoon when security forces opened fire at a mob that attacked them on Anantnag-Pahalgam road, some 50 km from here.

Tension gripped the south Kashmir town and adjacent areas when agitated mobs smashed ambulances, government properties and threw rocks at security men as clashes also erupted in nearby Pulwama district.

Protesters took to the streets at many places in Srinagar and north Kashmir Baramulla town.

As the cycle of violence refused to die down, the Abdullah government clamped curfew in Sopore, Baramulla, Srinagar and Anantnag districts. Security forces have been asked to strictly enforce the restrictions.

The chief minister, who came under attack from opposition parties, called for peace and asked people not to provoke security men by throwing stones at them.

“With folded hands, I appeal to all the parents to counsel their children, to ensure that their children do not come out and engage security forces in stone pelting,” Abdullah told a news conference.

He accused separatist leaders of inciting Kashmiri youth to violence.

“The (protest) calendar called by the separatists is aimed to incite the youth to violence,” said Abdullah, who took over as the chief minister in January 2009.

Abdullah denied that the protests were spontaneous or “because the people were angry with his governance”.

“This is a battle of wits, battle of ideas, battle of ideologies, in which various anti-national forces and vested interests have come together to create trouble,” he said.

He asked political parties of “various shades and ideologies to set aside their political differences, to come together so that from a common platform we can ensure that today’s deaths to do not recur”.

“Insha Allah,” he said, “I am confident that if all of us work together, if all of us make up our minds… it is not beyond the realm of possibility that peace will soon be restored in the valley.”

The chief minister said it was “extremely unfortunate that emotional and vulnerable youth are being exploited and are being brought to the forefront, resulting in the tragic consequences”.

He said the government had a duty to maintain law and order and that the curfew imposed in various parts of the valley would be strictly enforced.

“The security forces have been told that with the caveat of the maximum restraint possible, they will have to enforce the curfew so that the situation can be brought under control. We have a duty, we will do everything possible in the shortest possible time to restore normalcy.”

Abdullah refused to pin the blame entirely on the security forces for the worsening situation.

“It takes two hands to clap,” he said, adding the security forces could not be expected “to constantly show restraint while you are constantly seeking to engage them”.

“It is these sorts of actions that led in the kind of situation we are facing today.”