SRINAGAR, India (AP) - The Indian army says four suspected rebels have been killed in disputed Kashmir as businesses and schools shut in the region in response to a separatists' call to protest the killing of eight civilians by government forces during a weekend by-election. Separatist factions in Kashmir had called for a boycott of the by-polls, resulting in heightened security and low voter turnout when the polling began. Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption About 20,000 extra Indian troops were deployed for the by-election

Clashes erupted when police and troops moved in and used tear gas - and later opened fire - on protesters, who fought back by pelting stones. Waheed Para, spokesman for the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP), told Al Jazeera eight people were killed in the clashes. Shantmanu, chief electoral officer of Jammu and Kashmir, said "more than 200 incidents of violence" were reported on Sunday, including stone-pelting, petrol bomb attacks and setting ablaze of a polling station. Local rebel leaders had called for a boycott of the vote, which was held to fill a vacant seat after a member of parliament resigned to protest the killing of civilians during a sweeping security crackdown last year. Another by-election, to fill a separate parliamentary seat, is set to take place in the Anantnag district on 12 April. The results of both polls are expected to be announced on April 15. India and Pakistan, which claim Kashmir in full but rule only in part, have fought two of their three wars over the disputed region since independence. India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist fighters in the Himalayan region, a charge Pakistan denies. The violence since then, largely in the form of troops firing on civilian crowds with shotguns after protesters throw stones, has left 84 civilians dead and more than 12,000 civilians and security force personnel wounded.
Six people are killed in clashes between protesters and police near Srinagar in the disputed region of Kashmir Valley, during a by-election for a vacant seat in the Indian Lok Sabha.