7 killed as India, Pakistan exchange fire in Kashmir

Srinagar - Both countries blame unprovoked violations from the other side.

Pakistani and Indian soldiers traded fire in the disputed Kashmir region on Sunday, killing at least seven people on both sides, officials said.

The Indian military said Pakistani soldiers early on Sunday targeted an Indian border post and civilian areas along the highly militarised frontier in Kashmir, leaving two army soldiers and a civilian dead.

Col. Rajesh Kalia, an Indian army spokesman, said three Indian civilians were also injured in the Pakistani firing. Kalia called it an "unprovoked" violation of a 2003 cease-fire accord between India and Pakistan.

Pakistan's military later said in a statement that "unprovoked cease-fire violations" by Indian troops killed three civilians and one soldier and wounded another five civilians and two troops across the highly militarised Line of Control that divides Kashmir between Pakistan and India.

The statement said Indian troops targeted civilians in Jura, Shahkot and Nousehri sectors. It said Pakistani forces responded with heavy fire on Indian soldiers.

India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir. The renewed fighting comes amid an ongoing lockdown in Kashmir that was put in place after India stripped the region of its semi-autonomy in early August.

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