NEW DELHI — Thousands of protesters thronged streets in towns across the Kashmir valley on July 9, the first of days of clashes with security officers. The violence was among the worst in the restive region in years, leaving more than 30 people dead, including a police officer, and thousands injured. Most of the deaths were protesters shot by security forces, and hospitals were crowded with wounded civilians. Protesters attacked police vehicles, security posts and other government property.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, and Indian-administered Kashmir has long been troubled, plagued by the aftershocks of an armed insurgency born in the late 1980s, which was aided by Pakistan. A heavy Indian military presence in the Kashmir valley largely vanquished the insurgency, but calls for self-rule persist, and civilians bristle against the security forces, which human rights groups accuse of abuses.

What set the protesters off?

The protests began the day after Burhan Muzaffar Wani, a commander for the Hizbul Mujahedeen, a Kashmiri militant group, was killed by security forces in a gun battle on July 8. The next day, thousands attended his funeral in his home village of Tral, in south Kashmir.

Who was Burhan Muzaffar Wani?

Mr. Wani, in his early 20s, had become a prominent face of separatist sentiment in the Kashmir valley.