Clashes over anti-Islam film in Held Kashmir
19 September, 2012
SRINAGAR: Hundreds of Muslim protesters in Indian-held Kashmir clashed with security forces and burnt a police vehicle on Tuesday during angry demonstrations over an anti-Islam film made in the United States. All shops and businesses were shut in the Himalayan region by a strike called to protest against the film, which was produced in the United States and convicted fraudster from Egypt. Clashes erupted in central Srinagar, when a group of about 300 protesters attempted to march to the local United Nations building but were stopped by the police. They threw stones and torched a police van while security forces fired volleys of tear gas to keep them back, an AFP photographer said. In other protests dotted around the city, crowds of young men shouted anti-US slogans and burnt American and Israeli flags as well as effigies of US President Barack Obama. Kashmir was roiled by protests last Friday, a traditional day of demonstration in the region, and police in the southern Indian city of Chennai detained 86 protesters who attacked the US consulate. The mission remained closed on Tuesday for security reasons and the United States issued a statement requesting its citizens to "exercise caution and monitor local media for security updates". End.
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