 "Kashmir")
Normal life was affected in Kashmir on Friday due to a strike called by separatists to protest the killing of a civilian following an encounter between militants and security forces in Pulwama district.
Most of the shops, fuel stations and other business establishments were shut in Srinagar -- the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
Public transport was off the roads, but a few private cars, cabs and auto-rickshaws were seen plying in some areas of the city, they said.
The authorities ordered closure of schools and colleges in Srinagar as a precautionary measure in view of the strike, the officials said.
They said similar reports of shutdown were received from other district headquarters of the Valley.
The separatists -- under the banner of Joint Resistance Leadership (JRL) -- on Thursday asked people to observe a shutdown on Friday against civilian killings during the month of Ramzan.
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The civilian, Rayees Dar, was killed on Thursday after an encounter between militants and security forces in Pulwama district of the state.
Six militants and a soldier were also killed in encounters with security forces in Shopian and Pulwama districts on Thursday.
A youth, who had sustained grievous injuries in clashes during protests at Pattan in Baramulla district against the rape of a three-year-old girl in Bandipore, died at SKIMS hospital here Wednesday night.
