SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Indian police opened fire on Saturday to disperse thousands of people protesting against Indian rule in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, killing a child and wounding 25 demonstrators.

Muslim-majority Kashmir has been rocked by a series of pro-independence protests in the last six weeks and at least 22 people, mostly protesters, have been killed by security forces.

The authorities have imposed an on-and-off curfew in Kashmir, at the core of a dispute between India and Pakistan.

Fresh demonstrations broke out on Saturday, a day after four protesters were killed and 75 injured in day-long clashes between stone-pelting protesters and government forces.

A teenage boy was killed during Saturday clashes, said Mohammad Usman, a doctor at a north Kashmir hospital.

Locals say the protests are spontaneous but India has blamed separatists and Lashkar-e-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group, for fomenting the latest violence.

"Some people were bent on diverting the anger of the younger generation in the negative direction for selfish motives," Omar Abdullah, Kashmir's chief minister, said in a statement.

"The government is taking appropriate measures to end this difficult period. There is light at the end of every tunnel, however long it may take."

Peace in Kashmir is seen as crucial for improving relations between New Delhi and Islamabad, who are trying to revive peace talks that were halted after India blamed Pakistan-based militants for the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

The spiralling violence had the government briefly call in the army into Srinagar for the first time in nearly two decades to enforce calm.