A group of youth, with faces covered and carrying a black banner resembling Islamic State flag, marched from Jamia Masjid towards Nowhatta chowk soon after the Friday prayers, official sources said. A group of youth, with faces covered and carrying a black banner resembling Islamic State flag, marched from Jamia Masjid towards Nowhatta chowk soon after the Friday prayers, official sources said.

ISIS flags were hoisted by some youths during a protest rally in the old city on Friday afternoon. This is for the first time in this year when ISIS flags were hoisted in any protest rally.

Eyewitness said that soon after the Friday prayers ended at Jamia masjid in the old city, clashes broke out between the protesters and the security personnel in the area. And during the clashes, some youth, who were wearing masks, waved the ISIS flags.

Police officials said that they have registered a case and have started the investigations. “Yes, a flag was hoisted by some youth inside the premises of Jamia Masjid and we are checking the video footage to identify which flag it was,” said SSP Srinagar Amit Kumar. “The youth who waved the flag immediately left the spot. We have registered an FIR and are investigating.”

Hurriyat Conference Chairman Syed Ali Geelani had called for protests across valley after Friday prayers against the killing of medical employee and Hurriyat member Altaf Ahmad Sheikh by unidentified gunmen in North Kashmir Sopore on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Pakistan flags were also hoisted during a protest rally in North Kashmir’s Kupwara area on Friday.

A few days ago, army had said that ISIS flags were hoisted at “five instances” in the last year in the valley . “Last year, there were five instances when we saw the flags (IS) on display at different places, on four occasions in Srinagar and one occasion at Shopian,” General Officer Commanding (GoC), 15 Corps, Lt Gen. Subrata Saha had said.

A huge controversy had erupted in April after supporters of Hurriyat Chairman Syed Ali Shah Geelani waved Pakistani flags during a rally in Srinagar.

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