Normal life was affected by a strike across the Kashmir Valley Friday following a protest call by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, chairman of the breakaway separatist All Parties Hurriyat Conference.

Geelani had called a shutdown to protest against the recent alleged human rights violations.

Shops, business establishments and public transport remained closed in the summer capital Srinagar [Images] even though private transport vehicles were on the roads in the uptown civil lines area of the city.

Attendance in government offices and educational institutions was adversely affected in the city.

Reports from other towns of the Valley said markets remained closed.

In a related development, protests continued for the second day in north Kashmir's Kangan town, where protesters shutdown markets and blocked the highway leading to the Baltal base camp of the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.

Protests erupted in Kangan on Thursday when a trooper of the 24 Rashtriya Rifles allegedly attempted to molest a girl in the town.

"He fired at the crowd killing one local labourer on the spot and wounding another.

"He later shot himself with his service rifle," a police officer said in Kangan town.

The spokesman of the army has regretted the incident in which the local resident, identified as Abdul Rehman Magray and the trooper, Ranjit Singh were killed.