Heavy Fighting Erupts Along India-Pakistan Border in Kashmir | Voice of America - English
The Indian Army has claimed that Pakistani troops infiltrated to its side of the line of control in Kashmir on Monday and fired at its border post killing an Indian soldier. Pakistani officials have denied their troops crossed the border and blame India for border provocations.  The two sides have since exchanged fire for over twelve hours.  Shahnawaz Khan reports for VOA from Srinagar.
In thelatest allegations of ceasefire violations along the Kashmir border,the Indian army said Monday that a group of Pakistani troopsinfiltrated to its side of the line of control that divides Kashmirbetween the two nuclear neighbors. Pakistan disputes that version ofevents and says Indian troops wanted to establish a forward observationpost on the border and they objected. The Indian Armyspokesman in Srinagar, A K Mathur, told VOA that Pakistani troops hadinfiltrated to the Indian side on Monday and fired weapons whenconfronted. "At around 3 O clock we saw some movement oftroops of 10 to 12 in uniform, - these Pakistani soldiers - in our sideof line of control. When our patrol party were approaching them theyfired and killed one of our soldiers and ran back to their side of lineof control [and] from their post started firing at us. So we alsoretaliated," he said. Pakistan has denied that allegation and insists that Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing on their border posts. Despiterecent skirmishes and complaints about violations, a ceasefire haslargely held on the line of control in Kashmir since 2003. Up untilthat time India and Pakistan regularly exchanged heavy fire. Nearly adozen Muslim rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir'sindependence from India or its merger with Pakistan.