Protest strike shuts Indian Kashmir

Relatives and neighbors of Kashmiri prisoner Showket Ahmad shout slogans near a burning tire set on fire by them during a protest, in Srinagar, India, Monday, Dec. 10, 2012. Separatists in Indian-controlled Kashmir have called a strike that has shuttered shops across the region in protest of the life sentences handed out by an Indian court to two pro-independence Kashmiri activists. AP/Mukhtar Khan

SRINAGAR, India   — Shops and businesses are shut in Indian-controlled Kashmir in response to a strike called by separatist groups to protest firing by government forces that wounded seven civilians in the disputed region.

Public transportation also was not running in Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar on Monday.

On Friday, Indian troops fired on the civilians in Pulwama town as they carried two colleagues injured in a gunbattle with rebels in a neighboring village. Seven civilians were wounded in the shooting, leading to massive anti-government protests.

Authorities ordered a probe and declared a curfew in Pulwama which continued Monday, said Shabir Ahmed, a police officer.

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmir, claimed by both India and Pakistan and split by a heavily militarized line of control.