Toll Up to 48 as Kashmir Muslims Riot for 2nd Day

Muslim militants defied curfews Monday and fought soldiers for a second day in an outburst of secessionist violence that police say has killed 48 people and injured hundreds.

The trouble began over the weekend when Muslims protested a police crackdown. The militants want to secede from predominantly Hindu India and either make Jammu-Kashmir independent or unite the northwestern state with adjacent Pakistan, an Islamic nation.

In New Delhi, Pakistani Foreign Minister Sahabzada Yaqub Khan began talks with the Indian government on the issue. India has accused Pakistan of supporting secessionists.

Only a brief lull during heavy rain Sunday interrupted the violence in Jammu-Kashmir. Police said militants and two police officers were killed Monday in Srinagar and that four protesters were shot to death in neighboring Anantnag.

“The whole city is up in revolt,” said Mohammed Nomani, inspector general of police in Srinagar. He estimated the number of protesters at 1,500 and said they have hundreds of automatic rifles and other weapons.

A senior official in Srinagar said privately that the local authorities have asked for more troops “to back up the security forces.” Hundreds of soldiers have been sent to Srinagar, a city of 1 million that is the summer capital of Jammu-Kashmir state on the Pakistan border.

At least 38 people, most of them protesters, were killed late Saturday night and Sunday. Doctors at the Soora Medical Institute said at least 300 people were wounded Monday when soldiers fired on a group of about 5,000.