Five killed in Uttar Pradesh as citizenship protests rage.

NEW DELHI -- Five civilians were killed in Uttar Pradesh amid continuing protests against a new citizenship law on Friday as the Indian government struggled to explain its position on the controversial measures to a dismayed world.

The government in the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled UP suspended mobile phone connectivity across the most populous state, making it difficult to assess the truer picture of the police crackdown.

Opposition leader Sonia Gandhi slammed the use of brute force by police.

As protesters in several parts of India defied prohibitory orders limiting any assembly to four persons, the brunt of the police assaults shifted to UP. Police officials were quoted as saying five people were killed. While they denied opening fire on protesters, they didn't explain how nearly half a dozen people were then killed.

'In a democracy, people have the right to raise their voice against wrong decisions and policies of the government, and register their concerns,' Ms Gandhi said on Twitter.

Sonia slams police brutality, diplomats struggle to explain new law

'But the BJP government has shown utter disregard for people's voices, and chosen to use brute force to suppress dissent.'

Her daughter Priyanka Gandhi spoke of government's poor show on the economic front and said it was using the new law to distract attention from its failures.

Of the five killed in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, two casualties were reported from Bijnore, and one each from Firozabad, Sambhal and Meerut.

Telecom industry officials said following explicit state government orders, internet access over mobile phones was suspended in Lucknow, Kanpur, Allahabad, Agra, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, VaranAasi, Mathura, Meerut, Moradabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bareli, Firozabad, Pilibhit, Rampur, Saharanpur, Shamli, Sambhal, Mau, Azamgarh, Sultanpur and Amroha.

Broadband internet services were also suspended in some cities including Lucknow and Ghaziabad. In Ghaziabad, especially, all schools have been closed in view of the violence.

Indian diplomats struggled to cope with the fallout, and the official position was tweaked on Friday to accommodate reservations from Afghanistan.

A foreign ministry spokesperson said the Afghan government had 'substantially' addressed the security needs of the religious communities of the country. Reports said the clarification came after Home Minister Amit Shah...