Kashmir: Tensions Remain High After Quran Burning Protests

Tensions in the Middle Eastern region of Kashmir remained high on Tuesday following violent protests a day earlier that were partially motivated by reports of Quran desecration in the United States.

At least 19 people were reported dead and 70 injured in clashes between protestors and Indian authorities which happened in response to a television report showing an American ripping pages out of a Quran in Washington, D.C.

The Quran desecration occurred over the weekend following a Florida pastor's cancellation of his plans to burn hundreds of copies of the Muslim holy book to mark this year's 9/11 anniversary and to influence the relocation of a proposed Islamic Center near the former World Trade Center.

The protests were most severe in the village of Tangmarg where a Christian missionary school was burned to the ground.

A 24-hour curfew has been enacted in the region, with authorities instructed to shoot anyone defying the order.

The clashes are the latest in a near 20-year string of violence in Kashmir, which is a territory claimed both by Indian and Pakistani authorities.

Nearly 68,000 people are estimated to have died in conflicts between Indian authorities and separatists, which have been ongoing since 1989.

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