After five days of security lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir, phone services and internet were partly restored this morning and restrictions in movement were eased to facilitate Friday prayers. Thousands of security personnel remain positioned across the Kashmir Valley to watch out for any trouble following the centre's decision to end special status and turn the state into two union territories.
The gates of the Jama Masjid in Srinagar were shut, indicating that prayers were unlikely in the city's main mosque. However, prayers would be allowed in smaller mosques in the interiors, said officials, and enough personnel had been posted to ensure order.

Restrictions may be reduced further if the prayers take place without any trouble, officials said.
 

After five days of security lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir, phone services and internet were partly restored this morning and restrictions in movement were eased to facilitate Friday prayers. Thousands of security personnel remain positioned across the Kashmir Valley to watch out for any trouble following the centre's decision to end special status and turn the state into two union territories.
The gates of the Jama Masjid in Srinagar were shut, indicating that prayers were unlikely in the city's main mosque. However, prayers would be allowed in smaller mosques in the interiors, said officials, and enough personnel had been posted to ensure order.

Restrictions may be reduced further if the prayers take place without any trouble, officials said.