SRINAGAR - Thousands of security forces enforced a curfew in the major towns of Indian-administered Kashmir on Saturday, a day after three protesters were shot dead.

The three were killed on Friday in two separate incidents when security forces opened fire to contain angry anti-India demonstrations in northern towns of Sopore and Patan.

"Curfew is in force in Srinagar and other major towns of Kashmir Valley," a police spokesman said, referring to Indian Kashmir`s summer capital.

Srinagar had a deserted look as troops carrying rifles and batons patrolled the streets.

Police and paramilitary forces were also deployed in strength in major towns to prevent demonstrations, the spokesman said.

Srinagar has been the focus of protests since June 11, when a 17-year-old student died after being hit by a police teargas shell.

Indian police and paramilitary forces, who have been struggling to control the wave of protests in the valley, have been accused of killing 20 civilians in less than two months.

Each death has sparked a new cycle of violence despite appeals for calm from state Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram.

The insurgency against New Delhi`s rule over Kashmir has claimed tens of thousands of lives, though the recent unrest is the worst for two years.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan each hold Kashmir in part but claim it in full and have fought two of their three wars over the region since the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

Separatist politicians and armed rebels reject Indian rule in Kashmir and want to merge with Muslim-majority Pakistan or carve out an independent state.

BDST: 11.15 HRS, July 31, 2010