Skip links

Skip to Content
play

Live

Navigation menu

  • News
    • Middle East
    • Africa
    • Asia
    • US & Canada
    • Latin America
    • Europe
    • Asia Pacific
  • Ukraine war
  • Features
  • Economy
  • Opinion
  • Video
    • Coronavirus
    • Climate Crisis
    • Investigations
    • Interactives
    • In Pictures
    • Science & Technology
    • Sports
    • Podcasts
play

Live

In Pictures

Gallery

In Pictures: Kashmir homes reduced to rubble during gun battle

Some residents accuse Indian forces of setting civilian houses on fire and looting valuables, a charge authorities deny.

Residents spray water on the debris of a house damaged in a gun battle between suspected militants and government forces in Srinagar on May 19, 2020. - Two Kashmir militants including a key rebel lead
Nusrat Rafiq, 33, was at her home with her daughter and mother-in-law when the deafening sound of blasts and shooting started next door in the Kani Mazar area of Nawa Kadal. "The cordon started at night. There were volleys of bullets everywhere, we did not know what to do. And in the early morning there was an announcement to leave. We kept [our] hands on our ears and we thought we would be hit in the very next moment," she said. [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]
Published On 20 May 202020 May 2020
facebooktwitterwhatsapp

Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir – At least a dozen homes have been reduced to rubble during a gun battle in Srinagar, the main city in Indian-administered Kashmir, residents have told Al Jazeera.

Some residents have accused Indian forces of setting civilian homes on fire and looting valuables, including cash and jewellery.

A top rebel commander and his associate were killed by Indian security forces on Tuesday, triggering anti-India protests and clashes in the disputed Muslim-majority region.

Afroza was inconsolable as she stood on the charred floor of her house in the Nawa Kadal neighbourhood, everything around her turned to ashes, even her children’s books.

You feel a particular despondency on seeing evidence of war crimes from your homeland. You begin to imagine what it must be like for the victims of those crimes. Then you realise you just cannot fathom it.

— Mirza Waheed (@MirzaWaheed) May 19, 2020

“From a distance, we saw our home in flames. It was a storm for us. Where would we go now? We had a roof over our head till yesterday that my husband had built with his lifetime hard work and today we have nothing,” she said adding that the “forces unleashed terror in the locality”.

Afroza said they are now left with only the clothes they were wearing. “When the forces came to our home, we were busy in the night-long prayers of Laylat al-Qadr. We were reciting the Quran and praying. We did not know everything will be snatched from us within minutes,” she told Al Jazeera.

“When they knocked at our door, we did not even get a chance to take our medicines along. They looted the money in our houses; they took away whatever they could. I had kept money and jewellery here they took it away,” said Baby Jan, who stood looking at her damaged house with her husband and three children.

Explosions and gunshots had echoed through the densely populated Nawa Kadal neighbourhood, the streets largely empty as a result of a coronavirus lockdown that has kept most residents to their homes.

Junaid Ahmed Sehrai, a commander of the largest Kashmiri armed group Hizbul Mujahideen and the son of a top separatist leader, was killed in the 12-hour gun battle, police said in a statement.

Locals poured onto the streets as news of the killings spread, hurling stones at Indian forces, who fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to disperse them.

The region’s police chief, Dilbagh Singh, said at a press conference that it “was a clean operation”, denying India forces were behind the fire.

“This was a clean operation, and we were careful that it is a congested area and fire might spread. So, we had kept arrangements like ambulance and other things were there,” Singh said.

“We spent four hours in evacuating residents first that’s how two cops were injured. When they were evacuating, the militants fired at them. There has not been much damage to the houses, the militants were throwing grenades which triggered a fire, but we controlled it.”

The deaths came two weeks after Hizbul Mujahideen chief Riyaz Naikoo and a close aide were killed by government forces in the southern Kashmir valley during a two-day gun battle.

Authorities said 73 rebels had been killed in Kashmir this year, many of them during the ongoing Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Rebel groups have fought for decades for the region’s independence or its merger with Pakistan and enjoy broad popular support. The fighting has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians, since 1989.

India has more than 500,000 troops stationed in Kashmir.

Residents watch out from their window in an area near the site of a gun battle between suspected militants and government forces in Srinagar on May 19, 2020. - Two Kashmir militants including a key re
"I lost everything. I have no one besides God. My husband died of a heart attack in 2014. And since then I am living with my two daughters aged 7 and 11 and my ailing mother-in-law," Rafiq told Al Jazeera, pointing to the family's charred utensils, bedding and clothes. [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]
Advertisement
Residents gather around the debris of a house damaged in a gun battle between suspected militants and government forces in Srinagar on May 19, 2020. - Two Kashmir militants including a key rebel leade
Jan, whose house was burned down in the firefight, said it would difficult for her to rebuild. "We told the security forces to check the whole house as there is no one but they did not listen. They deliberately burned it down to punish us," she said. [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]
Smoke rises from a house at a site of a gun battle between suspected militants and government forces in downtown Srinagar on May 19, 2020. - Two Kashmir militants including a key rebel leader were kil
Smoke rises from a house at the site of a gun battle between rebels and government forces in Srinagar. [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]
A Kashmiri man douses a fire in a house which was damaged in a gun-battle in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Indian government forces killed two rebels in disputed Kashmir
"We don't even have clothes to wear. We could not even take our mobile phones along. They also burned in our homes. We have no documents like identity cards, everything has ended," Afroza told Al Jazeera. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Fruits that had been kept for breaking Ramadan fasting is seen burnt and covered with ash and dust inside the kitchen of one of the houses damaged in a gun battle in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmi
Fruits that had been prepared for breaking the Ramadan fast are covered in ash and dust in the kitchen of a damaged house. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Kashmiri men inspect houses which were destroyed in a gunbattle in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Indian government forces killed two rebels in disputed Kashmir on Tuesday
The Indian government shut down mobile phone and mobile internet services during subsequent anti-India protests, officials and residents said. [Dar Yasin/AP Photo]
Advertisement
epa08431593 A Fire serviceman and Kashmiri Muslims hold a water hose to douse a fire in houses which were damaged during a gunfight between Indian security forces and militants in the downtown area of
The region's police chief, Dilbagh Singh, said it was "a clean operation", denying Indian forces were behind the arson or looting. "This was a clean operation, and we were careful that it is a congested area and fire might spread. So, we had kept arrangements like ambulance and other things were there," Singh said. [Farooq Khan/EPA]
epa08431632 Kashmiri Muslims wail near the houses which were damaged during a gunfight between Indian security forces and militants in the downtown area of Srinagar, Kashmir, India, 19 May 2020. Accor
Some residents have accused Indian forces of setting civilian houses on fire and looting valuables, including cash and jewelry. [Farooq Khan/EPA]
epa08431189 An Indian paramilitary soldier takes position near the site of a gunfight in the downtown area of Srinagar, Kashmir, India, 19 May 2020. Two security forces personnel were injured in an on
The region's police chief, Dilbagh Singh, said: "We spent four hours in evacuating residents first that's how two cops were injured. When they were evacuating the militants fired at them. There has not been much damage to the houses, the militants were throwing grenades which triggered fire, but we controlled it." [Farooq Khan/EPA]
epa08431592 Kashmiri Muslim protesters duck their heads as an Indian policeman fire rubber bullets at them during clashes near the site of a gunfight in the downtown area of Srinagar, Kashmir, India,
Locals poured onto the streets as news of the killings spread to hurl stones at Indian forces, who fired tear gas and shotgun pellets to disperse them. No injuries were reported.


    • About Us
    • Code of Ethics
    • Terms and Conditions
    • EU/EEA Regulatory Notice
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Cookie Preferences
    • Sitemap
    • Community Guidelines
    • Work for us
    • HR Quality
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise with us
    • Apps
    • Channel Finder
    • TV Schedule
    • Podcasts
    • Submit a Tip
    • Al Jazeera Arabic
    • Al Jazeera English
    • Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
    • Al Jazeera Mubasher
    • Al Jazeera Documentary
    • Al Jazeera Balkans
    • AJ+
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Studies
    • Al Jazeera Media Institute
    • Learn Arabic
    • Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties & Human Rights
    • Al Jazeera Forum
    • Al Jazeera Hotel Partners

Follow Al Jazeera English:

  • facebook
  • twitter
  • youtube
  • instagram-colored-outline
  • rss
Al Jazeera Media Network logo
© 2023 Al Jazeera Media Network