Curfew relaxed in Valley

SRINAGAR: Authorities here on Thursday relaxed the curfew for five hours in the six out of ten districts in Kashmir Valley to allow people to buy necessary household items, official sources said.

The curfew was relaxed in Srinagar, Gandharwal, Budgam, Kupwara, Anantnag and Kulgam districts from 6:00 am to 11:00 am, they said, adding the relaxation would be extended if the five-hour period passes peacefully.

However, there was no relaxation in curfew in Baramula, Bandipura, Pulwama and Shopiyan.

The authorities clamped curfew in all the ten districts in the Valley for the first time in 13 years after the protests in the tense Kashmir region spread in escalating violence that so far has left 21 people dead in firing by security forces.