India-Pakistan clash results in casualties on border
Indian and Pakistani forces on Friday traded fire on the Kashmir frontier, leaving casualties on both sides and many wounded, officials from both sides said.
Five clashes – involving shelling and gunfire – were reported along the 740-kilometre long unofficial border that has separated the countries for the past seven decades.
The new peak in tensions came only five days after three Indian troops and three militants were killed in an exchange along the Line of Control (LoC).
In a statement, Pakistani military and government officials blamed India for initiating the fighting by firing rockets and mortar shells that killed five Pakistani civilians and wounded 27 others.
On the other hand, India’s military accused Pakistan of an “unprovoked” violation in which three Indian soldiers were killed and three wounded in the Keran sector of the frontier. Kashmir police said three civilians were killed and at least three suffered serious injuries.
“Pakistan used mortars and other weapons” and “deliberately targeted civilian areas”, said an Indian army statement.
The two sides regularly stage artillery duels across the LoC, and invariably blame each other for the clashes.
