A teenage boy and a man were killed in an exchange of fire with Indian troops in Kashmir, Pakistan’s army said yesterday, days after the countries warned each other against escalation at their militarised borders.
The exchange occurred on Thursday night across the Line of Control (LoC), a de-facto frontier that divides the Himalayan valley in parts each controlled by Pakistan and India, but claimed by both in its entirety.
The 14-year-old boy and the man in his late 20s received bullet injuries when Indian forces targeted villages on the Pakistani side, a statement by the army said.
At least three Pakistani soldiers and two civilians were injured in a separate incident of firing and shelling, the army added.
Pakistani troops returned fire but it was not known if there were any casualties on the Indian side.
Deadly border skirmishes have increased since Indian government decision in August to strip the part of Kashmir it controls of a special autonomous status, in a move that angered Pakistan.
Pakistan has reacted by downgrading diplomatic relations with India, suspending bilateral trade and cross-border transport services.
The Indian decision on Kashmir and a subsequent security lockdown of the region has triggered a fresh wave of tensions between South Asian rivals, who have fought three wars in the past.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi accused India this week of installing nuclear missiles at the border, after the Indian army chief warned of a flare-up.
People stand in front of coffins draped in Pakistan’s national flags during the funeral of the victims who, according to local media, were killed in cross-border shelling, in Lesva village in Neelum Valley, Pakistan.
