SRINAGAR, 25 July 2005 — In a bizarre incident, Indian soldiers shot dead three teenage boys and seriously wounded a fourth in revolt-hit Kashmir yesterday after mistaking them for rebels, the army said.

The shootings in Bangargund village in the northern district of Kupwara prompted several thousand people to pour into the streets and demand punishment for the troops, police said.

The soldiers fired on the youths who had left wedding celebrations which continued into the early hours of yesterday and had gone for a walk, police said.

They had ignored army restrictions on people going outside after dark.

The area is labeled “highly sensitive” by authorities as they say it is used as a transit route by militants sneaking in from Pakistan-administered Kashmir to battle New Delhi’s rule in Indian Kashmir.

“The four were asked to stop but instead they started running away, prompting troops to open fire,” army spokesman Vijay Batra said, expressing deep regret over the shootings.

He said the four youths were shot as they emerged from a wooded area. Their exact ages were not immediately available.

However, reports said the victims were schoolchildren between the ages of 13 and 15.

It was the second time in less than a week that soldiers had been accused of killing a teenage civilian, following the death of a 15-year-old boy in south Kashmir on Thursday. Officials said he was caught in cross-fire between rebels and soldiers.

Troops battling the insurgency are often accused of human rights violations, including shooting of innocent civilians, by rights groups and separatists.

Authorities say they probe all complaints and punish those found guilty of abuses.

A police officer in Bangargund said yesterday’s shootings triggered a demonstration in the village in which several thousand people including women and children filled the streets demanding action against the troops.

Demonstrators ransacked an army-run vocational training center and damaged two police vehicles, witnesses said.

Batra said the shootings occurred after troops had laid an ambush for militants in the area which lies near the Line of Control — the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

He appealed to people not to violate night movement restrictions in the Kupwara district and other areas considered highly sensitive.

“If civilians must move, they should carry a torch and if asked to stop, they shouldn’t run away,” he said.

India says there has been a “sudden spurt” in militant incursions from the Pakistani side of the disputed region over the past few weeks since snow blocking Himalayan mountain passes began melting.

However, it says the rise in incursions will not disrupt the ongoing peace dialogue between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan. New Delhi charges that Pakistan permits rebels to train on soil under its control, an allegation Islamabad rejects.

Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mohammed Sayeed has ordered a judicial inquiry. He called the shooting “unfortunate” and asked the security agencies to avoid such occurrences in future at any cost, an official spokesman said.

“Human life is very precious and utmost care and restraint should be exercised while dealing with similar situations to ensure that innocent people are not harmed,” Sayeed said.

Meanwhile, in other violence, troops shot dead seven rebels in three gunbattles late Saturday and yesterday while suspected militants shot dead two Muslims, one a former rebel, police said.

More than 44,000 people have been killed since the insurgency’s start in 1989, officials say.