India-Pakistan Border Clashes Continue, Several Reported Killed On Both Sides
By MINA
Two Pakistani civilians and an Indian soldier have been killed in cross-border firing in the disputed region of Kashmir, officials from the two sides say.
Pakistan’s military said on October 24 that two civilians, including a 1-year-old baby, were killed in the village of Janglora, and seven others were injured in the overnight exchange of fire.
The Indian Army said a guard from India’s Border Security Force was killed and another injured.
Both countries accused the other of resorting to unprovoked firing and shelling.
Tensions have been rising since India accused Pakistan-based militants of launching an assault on an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir in early September that killed 18 soldiers.
Pakistan is refuting claims by Indian security forces that they shot dead seven Pakistani soldiers along the disputed Kashmir border.
India’s Border Security Force (BSF) said on October 21 the Pakistani Rangers were killed after they had targeted Indian positions with sniper fire following a failed attempt by militants overnight to enter the Indian side of Hira Nagar.
The border-crossing point is near the main city of Jammu in the part of the disputed Kashmir region that is controlled by India.
“During intermittent firing of small arms and area weapons one militant and seven Rangers were shot dead,” the BSF said in a statement.
But Pakistani Army spokesman Lieutenant General Asim Bajwa refuted the claim and said that Indian border forces had provoked the firing on the border.
“[The] Indian claim of hitting or killing any Pakistani soldier/Ranger with firing at anytime of today” along the Line of Control is “absolutely false,” Bajwa tweeted.
The Kashmir region has been divided between India and Pakistan since independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the entire territory for themselves.
Three wars have been fought between the two countries over Kashmir.
