New Delhi (AFP)

The curfew imposed on Indian-controlled Kashmir will be eased after Independence Day Thursday, but phone and internet will remain cut, according to the state-run Jammu and Kashmir state government Wednesday.

"We do not want to offer the enemy these communication tools before things calm down," Governor Satya Pal Malik said in an interview with The Times of India. "In a week or ten days, everything will be fine and we will gradually open lines of communication," he added.

The Himalayan region, predominantly Muslim, also claimed by Pakistan, is since 4 August totally cut off from the world. A blackout of communications and heavy traffic restrictions were imposed by the Indian authorities before the announcement of the revocation of the constitutional autonomy of the part of Kashmir they control.

Fearing mass demonstrations, tens of thousands more troops were deployed to monitor the implementation of the surprise decision by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Indian Interior Ministry said on Twitter that the restrictions were "being gradually eased" in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

According to locals, however, this blockade did not prevent a demonstration of some 8,000 people after last Friday's prayer, which was dispersed by security forces with tear gas and lead shots.

The spokesman also confirmed for the first time that clashes took place after last Friday's Muslim prayer.

Authorities eased the restrictions temporarily on Sunday to allow residents to shop for the Eid Muslim holiday, which began on Monday.

But severe restrictions were again imposed after demonstrations that have gathered hundreds of people, according to residents.

The separatist insurgency has killed tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, in the area since 1989. The various rebel groups demand either its independence or its attachment to Pakistan.

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, who on Sunday likened the Indian government to Nazi Germany, was due to deliver a speech to the legislature in Pakistani Kashmir on Wednesday.

India and Pakistan, which shared the territory of Kashmir after independence in 1947, have since fought three wars, two of them in Kashmir.

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