Kashmir: Mobile internet restored in Kargil district

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - The Indian government on Friday restored mobile internet services in a small area in northwest of disputed Jammu and Kashmir after 145 days of communication blackout, media reports said.

Indian officials said the mobile internet services were restored in the northwestern Kargil district, home to around 16,000 people, of Ladakh Union Territory of the valley, official Press Trust of India news agency reported.

India had on Aug. 5 imposed severe communications blackout snapping phone and internet services before scrapping the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 and 35A of the Indian constitution.

The report said the internet services were restored in “view of complete normalcy returning to Kargil” as the broadband internet services were already made functional in the district.

The internet and pre-paid mobile services still remain suspended in the rest of Jammu and Kashmir, home to over 12 million people.

- Disputed Region

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- two of them over Kashmir.

Some Kashmiri groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

According to several human rights organizations, thousands of people have reportedly been killed in the conflict in the region since 1989.