Soldiers and police fired at Muslim protesters demanding an end to Indian rule in Kashmir as authorities arrested top separatist leaders Monday in a bid to quash unrest that has left at least 37 people dead since June, the Associated Press reported. The three latest deaths came late Sunday in Srinagar, Kashmir's main city, and Monday in a village on the city's outskirts and a nearby town, when security forces confronted angry protesters defying a curfew in the Muslim heart of Jammu and Kashmir state. The state government said in a statement that soldiers opened fire Monday after they were shot at by protesters, who wounded two soldiers and two police. At least 15 protesters were believed to have been wounded. There was no immediate reaction from the separatist groups that are organizing protests. There was more unrest Monday in Jammu, where police fired tear gas to disperse thousands of stone-throwing Hindu protesters, police said. In an effort to head off Monday's protests, authorities arrested two prominent separatist leaders, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omer Farooq, in pre-dawn raids, police said. Another separatist leader, Mohammed Yasin Malik, was arrested later Monday for defying the curfew when he tried to march to the center of Srinagar. Police and soldiers were also out in force, patrolling on foot and in armored vehicles. Before his arrest Farooq told The Associated Press that the detentions «will not deter our mission.»
