India, Pakistan troops exchange fire in Kashmir

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Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy gunfire on Friday, and targeted each other's positions and civilian areas, officials said.

The two sides exchanged fire on the Line of Control (LoC) in frontier Poonch district, about 185 kilometers southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Pakistani army this morning resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling and firing along targeting some Indian positions and civilian areas in Gulpur and Nakarkote sectors," a local government official said. "The firing is going on intermittently."

Indian army soldiers keep guard on top of a shop along a highway on the outskirts of Srinagar, September 29, 2016. /Reuters Photo

According to the official, schools falling in the affected areas have been closed as a precautionary measure.

So far no reports of damage were received from the Indian or Pakistani side, he added.

According to Indian officials, over 600 incidents of cease-fire violations were recorded along the LoC and International Border (IB) since the beginning of this year.

Both New Delhi and Islamabad accuse each other of resorting to unprovoked firings and violating cease-fire agreements. And both sides maintain that their troops gave a befitting reply.

Last week the three-day biannual talks between chiefs of India's Border Security Force (BSF) and Pakistan Rangers concluded in New Delhi with both sides agreeing to "maintain peaceful and tranquil borders."

The LoC is a de facto border that divides Kashmir into India and Pakistan controlled parts.

Kashmir is a disputed region between India and Pakistan, since their independence from Britain in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir.

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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency