A masked Kashmiri protester prepares to throws a brick at a policeman during a protest in Srinagar Saturday, July 9, 2016. (Source:AP) A masked Kashmiri protester prepares to throws a brick at a policeman during a protest in Srinagar Saturday, July 9, 2016. (Source:AP)

At least five people were killed and more than 30 injured in clashes which erupted across Kashmir valley on Saturday, a day after the 21-year-old Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed along with two other militants in an encounter in South Kashmir.

Since Saturday morning, heavy clashes broke out between the security forces and stone throwing youths in several parts of the Valley. At numerous places, security forces resorted to tear gas shelling and aerial firing to disperse the protestors.

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Hospital officials in South Kashmir confirmed to The Indian Express that four people have died on Saturday in parts of South Kashmir.

In Srinagar, hospital officials said they have received around 25 injured people till 3 pm. “Five of them are serious,” Nazir Malik, Medical Superintendent, Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, told The Indian Express.

Meanwhile, thousands of people participated in absentia prayers, which were held across the Kashmir Valley for the slain commander. Thousands of people reached Tral in South Kashmir – the hometown of Wani where funeral prayers were held. The burial is likely to take place in the evening.

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The Valley is already witnessing a complete shutdown on Saturday after separatist leaders called for a strike extending two days to protest against Burhan Wani’s killing.

The J&K government has already suspended mobile Internet services in Kashmir Valley since late Friday night after the encounter. A senior official told The Indian Express that curfew has been imposed in parts of Srinagar and also several districts of the South Kashmir.

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The officials said several exams have been postponed in view of the tense situation The Srinagar-Baramulla and Srinagar- Anantnag national highways are closed with the protestors blocking the roads.

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Meanwhile, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday said Wani had become an ‘icon’ for the “disaffected community” after his death.

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