In Indian-controlled Kashmir, residents are voting in elections that some hope will lead to restoration of the territory's statehood, which ended when it became a federally governed territory in 2019.

A phased election for choosing a local government in Indian-controlled Kashmir has opened in the first such vote since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the disputed region of its special status five years ago.

Indian-administered Kashmir voted Wednesday in the first local elections since the cancellation of its special semi-autonomous status sparked fury in the troubled Himalayan territory, which is also claimed by Pakistan.