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India, Pakistan Trade Gunfire in Kashmir: 4 Dead

India, Pakistan Trade Gunfire in Kashmir: 4 Dead
folder_openAsia-Pacific... access_time9 years ago
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India and Pakistan traded gunfire in the disputed Kashmir region early Saturday, killing two villagers on each side and wounding several others, officials said.

India, Pakistan Trade Gunfire in Kashmir: 4 Dead

Dharmendra Pareek, a top official of India's paramilitary force, said Indian forces retaliated after Pakistani forces fired guns and mortar rounds on more than a dozen Indian border posts and at least three villages in Ranbir Singh Pura region.
One Indian border guard and three civilians also were wounded, but their injuries were not life threatening, he said.

In Pakistan, a senior army officer said two villagers were killed Saturday when the Indian border security force "resorted to unprovoked firing" along a cease-fire line near the city of Sialkot in the Pakistani portion of Kashmir.
The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media on the record.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and the neighboring countries claim the disputed Himalayan region in its entirety. They have fought three wars since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. The Kashmir dispute is at the heart of the lingering animosity between the rivals.
The two sides have largely followed a 2003 cease-fire accord, but sporadic violations have occurred.

Tension has escalated in Kashmir after India earlier this week called off diplomatic talks with Pakistan because the Pakistani ambassador in New Delhi met with separatist leaders from the disputed region.

India said the meeting undermined efforts to thaw relations between the nuclear-armed neighbors. But India has tolerated such meetings in the past, which suggests the country's new government is taking a hard line against Pakistan.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgent groups fighting for Kashmir's merger with Pakistan or independence from India since 1989. Pakistan denies the charge and says it offers only moral and diplomatic support to them.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team

 

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