Death toll in Kashmir rises to 44

The Kashmir Valley had to go without newspapers on Tuesday despite the end of the three-day ban imposed by the authorities to quell the unrest that has claimed another life.

The government’s decision to lift the ban came too late on Monday for printing the next day’s edition, sources said, adding the newspapers editors association would take a final call on publication on Tuesday.

The state government was widely criticised for censoring media following a week of violent unrest



after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, a local youngman, was killed in a gunfight with security forces on July 8. Cable and internet services were also hit.

A teenage girl injured in firing in Churat Qazigund in South Kashmir a day earlier died Tuesday morning. Two people were killed on Monday evening in retaliatory firing after protesters threw stones at an army patrol. The killings take the death toll in ongoing protests to 44 even as curfew continues across the Valley.