ISLAMABAD, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) —
Pakistani officials said on Saturday that Indian firing has killed at
least two civilians including a woman.
A spokesman for the border forces said the Indian Border Security Force opened unprovoked firing along the International Border in Charwa and Mehrajke Sectors near Sialkot border late Friday.
He said at least six people were also injured in the firing.
The spokesman for Punjab Rangers told media that the Pakistani border troops had responded to the Indian firing in a befitting manner.
Some cattle were also killed and houses damaged by the BSF firing, he said.
In India, officials said two people were killed and seven others injured early Saturday in heavy firing by forces.
Indian media quoted officials as saying Pakistanis fired on the Border Security Force posts near the international border in R.S. Pura sector in Jammu district, police said. Seven people were also injured.
Pakistani and Indian troops routinely trade fire in the disputed Kashmir region and along the International Border despite a 2003 ceasefire agreement. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control, a de facto border that divides the two countries in Kashmir.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars, two over Kashmir since their independence from the British colonial rule in 1947.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to New Delhi to attend the inauguration ceremony of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in May had raised hopes for the revival of official dialogue that had been suspended due to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
India had blamed the attacks on Pakistan-based militant groups.
India cancelled talks with Pakistan of top diplomats, scheduled to be held in Islamabad this month, over a meeting of Pakistani envoy in Delhi with Kashmiri separatist leaders. India had described the meeting as interference in its internal affairs.
Pakistan defended the meeting and said it was not new and such meetings had been held in the past ahead of high level Pak-India talks.
A spokesman for the border forces said the Indian Border Security Force opened unprovoked firing along the International Border in Charwa and Mehrajke Sectors near Sialkot border late Friday.
He said at least six people were also injured in the firing.
The spokesman for Punjab Rangers told media that the Pakistani border troops had responded to the Indian firing in a befitting manner.
Some cattle were also killed and houses damaged by the BSF firing, he said.
In India, officials said two people were killed and seven others injured early Saturday in heavy firing by forces.
Indian media quoted officials as saying Pakistanis fired on the Border Security Force posts near the international border in R.S. Pura sector in Jammu district, police said. Seven people were also injured.
Pakistani and Indian troops routinely trade fire in the disputed Kashmir region and along the International Border despite a 2003 ceasefire agreement. Both sides accuse each other of violating the ceasefire along the Line of Control, a de facto border that divides the two countries in Kashmir.
Pakistan and India have fought three wars, two over Kashmir since their independence from the British colonial rule in 1947.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s visit to New Delhi to attend the inauguration ceremony of his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in May had raised hopes for the revival of official dialogue that had been suspended due to the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
India had blamed the attacks on Pakistan-based militant groups.
India cancelled talks with Pakistan of top diplomats, scheduled to be held in Islamabad this month, over a meeting of Pakistani envoy in Delhi with Kashmiri separatist leaders. India had described the meeting as interference in its internal affairs.
Pakistan defended the meeting and said it was not new and such meetings had been held in the past ahead of high level Pak-India talks.
