Pakistan said on Thursday three of its soldiers were killed in a cross-border exchange of fire in the contested Kashmir region, but India denied that five of its troops died too.

Indian forces have increased firing along the contested border known as the Line of Control (LoC), Major General Asif Ghafoor, the chief spokesperson for the Pakistan armed forces, said in a tweet.

"Intermittent exchange of fire continues," Ghafoor tweeted.

An Indian army spokesman said late Thursday that the Pakistan claims were "fictitious", adding that the army was on high alert to deal with any "misadventure" by Pakistan.

The Indian army said that from around 7 a.m. local time Pakistan violated a ceasefire between the two nations.

The deaths come during a period of heightened tension between the nuclear-armed neighbors after India revoked special status for the portion of Muslim-majority Kashmir it controls, angering Pakistan which also has claims on the region.

(Cover: Indian army personnel stand in guard near the gunfight site in Khudwani Village about 60 kilometers south of Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir, April 11, 2018. /VCG Photo)