New Delhi - (AFP) - The Indian authorities prevented a female photographer from traveling to the United States to receive the Pulitzer Prize , according to what close to the young winner said, in an additional example of Kashmiri journalists who are subject to travel bans.

Sana Irshad Mato was among four Reuters journalists who won this year's prestigious award for photojournalists.

The 28-year-old journalist has won acclaim for her reporting on life in Indian Kashmir, a disputed territory in the Himalayas that has been militarized and insurgent for decades.

Immigration authorities stopped her at New Delhi airport on Tuesday and prevented her from leaving India, while two of her colleagues were allowed to travel.

Mato later posted a tweet on Twitter showing a picture of her travel ticket with the words "cancelled without any infringement of rights."
Mato, who is also a member of the prestigious Magnum Foundation, regretted the move, which was marred by a "unique occasion".

"I was arrested without any reason while the others were allowed to leave," she told AFP. "Maybe this is related to my being from Kashmir."

This is the second time that a photojournalist has been banned from leaving India this year.

In July, Manu was stopped in the same way at the same airport when she was preparing to travel to Paris to launch her book at a meeting place in the city of Arles, in southeastern France.

India has sought to extend its control over Kashmir, which neighboring Pakistan also claims full sovereignty over, which constitutes a constant source of tension between the two neighboring countries, which have nuclear military capabilities.

Thousands of people have been killed since the start of the rebellion against the Indian regime in 1989, and more than half a million soldiers are still constantly stationed in the region.