Srinagar: The slain Ansar Gazwat-ul-Hind militant Shakir Ahmad Dar was laid to rest at his ancestral village in south Kashmir’s Tral amid massive pro-freedom and pro-Pakistan sloganeering.

Witnesses said that thousands of villagers from several villages of Tral and Rathsuna assembled for the funeral prayers of the slain.

Meanwhile, reports said that government forces resorted to aerial firing and tear gas shelling to break up protests during a cordon-and-search-operation (CASO) in Pinglish area of the township.

Reports said that intense clashes after youth took to streets to disrupt an anti-militant operation launched by the forces in the area.

He said that youth took to streets and pelted the forces deployed in the area with stones. The forces reportedly resorted to aerial firing and tear gas shelling to chase away the protesters.