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Army called out in Jammu

JAMMU: Army troops were called out in Jammu on Thursday as police fought running battles with thousands of Sikh youths protesting against a recent massacre of Sikh villagers.

Police had fired more than 100 teargas shells to try to disperse around 10,000 demonstrators Ñ some of them armed with swords Ñ who tried to march on the governor's house in defiance of a round-the-clock curfew imposed after Monday night's massacre, witnesses said.

Several hundred police, wielding bamboo canes, clashed violently with the protesters who run into the side streets off Jammu's main thoroughfare.

A similar protest had been held Wednesday, with protestors calling for the state government to be dismissed in the wake of the massacre.

Several hundred Muslims, armed with sticks and swords, took refuge in Jammu's main mosque on Thursday, fearing Sikh reprisals.ÑAPP