(Updates number of injured, adds details in paragraph 12-13)

By Sheikh Mushtaq

SRINAGAR, India, Sept 13 (Reuters) - At least 20 people were injured on Saturday in the main city of Indian Kashmir when Muslim demonstrators clashed with troops in the latest anti-India protest to hit the region, police and witnesses said.

Indian troops fired teargas shells and chased protesters shouting "Indian forces go back" with batons.

Hundreds of protesters, many with their faces covered, burned tyres and threw rocks at police in different parts of Srinagar, Kashmir's summer capital, witnesses said.

At least 37 protesters have been killed by government forces since last month in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, scene of some of the biggest pro-independence rallies since a revolt against New Delhi's rule began in 1989.

More than 1,000 people have been injured in the protests, sparked by a decision to grant land to build shelters for Hindu pilgrims travelling to Kashmir, one of the world's most militarised regions.

Authorities imposed a curfew on Friday to prevent demonstrations in two towns in south and north Kashmir after two protesters were killed and 80 injured in clashes with troops.

Yasin Malik, a senior separatist leader and chief of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), was himself injured while leading a protest march.

Indian troops have been criticised by Kashmiris and international human rights groups for using excessive force to quell protests in the disputed Himalayan region.

"These incidents will be investigated and anyone (found) guilty will be punished," Prabhakar Tripathy, spokesman of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), told reporters in Srinagar.

Separatist leaders have also complained that the government used excessive force to stop protests.

"It is a martial law-like situation in Kashmir, Indian troops are using brute force to crush us," said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of the All Parties Hurriyat (freedom) Conference.

Separately, suspected separatist militants opened fire at a CRPF personnel in downtown Srinagar, killing him on the spot, police said.

They said a bomb disposal squad defused a powerful bomb tied to a tree in Srinagar street, leading to Kashmir's main airport.

Tens of thousands have been killed in the revolt in Kashmir since 1989. (Editing by Bappa Majumdar) (For the latest Reuters news on India see in.reuters.com, for blogs see blogs.reuters.com/in)

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