SRINAGAR, India – Thousands of protesters clashed with police in Indian Kashmir Thursday after two militants were killed in a gun battle with government forces, the army and witnesses said.

Protesters torched a police armoured vehicle as masked militants fired automatic rifles into the air in honour of the dead men, a police officer at the scene told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The gun battle broke out early Thursday morning in Shopian, 45 kilometres (28 miles) south of the main city of Srinagar.

“The militants fired on a patrol party. In retaliation both were eliminated,” army spokesman, Colonel N.N. Joshi told AFP.

The two militants were members of Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest local rebel group operating in Kashmir.

After the shootout, thousands of angry villagers came out onto the streets, throwing stones at police and chanting slogans in support of the rebels.

Police fired tear gas at the protesters but later withdrew to avoid an escalation.

Authorities in Kashmir say there has been a rise in violent protests over the deaths of local militants in the restive Himalayan region, which is divided between India and Pakistan but claimed in full by both.

Local police and the army have issued public warnings asking residents within a two-kilometre (1.25-mile) radius of a gun battle to stay indoors, but the request is usually ignored.

Hizbul Mujahideen is one of several rebel groups fighting an estimated half a million Indian forces deployed in the restive region, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan.

Tens of thousands have died in the fighting, mostly civilians, since the insurgency broke out in 1989.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947 and the two neighbours have fought two wars over its control.

Taipei – Five people were charged Thursday over the deadly collapse of an apartment block in Taiwan during an earthquake, including the building’s owner, with prosecutors saying “corners were cut” which made the complex dangerous.

The collapse of the Wei-kuan building during the 6.4 magnitude quake in the southern city of Tainan in February left 115 dead.

It was the only high-rise to crumble completely, with questions raised over shoddy building methods.

The building company’s owner Lin Ming-hui, his design department’s manager, two architects and a structural technician were charged Thursday with negligence leading to death and injury.

“Lin Ming-hui for the purpose of saving architectural blueprint fees and construction costs… went so far as to cut corners and increase floor area… affecting the structural safety of Wei-kuan building,”

Tainan district prosecutors office said in a statement.

6.4-magnitude earthquake shakes Taiwan

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Reuters

Some reinforcement parts were found to be inadequate in the construction, “significantly reducing the building’s seismic resilience,” the statement said.

“The building collapsed as it couldn’t maintain its structural integrity, causing residents to be trapped, leading to serious harm and deaths as a result,” prosecutors added.

The safety of the building was called into question immediately after the disaster, when metal cans and foam were found to have been used as fillers in the concrete and residents said there had been cracks in the structure.

The Wei-kuan building had 96 apartments and was completed in 1994, before a new building code was brought in following a devastating earthquake that left 2,400 people dead in 1999.

The building collapse struck a nerve with Taiwan’s public, increasingly embittered by a string of disasters, from food safety scandals to a water park explosion last year that left 15 dead.