Pakistan: Indian troops kill national in Kashmir

Pakistan military said that Indian troops on Monday killed its national along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border between the two countries in the disputed Kashmir region. This is the latest firing incident along the LoC as troops of both countries now routinely exchange fire. Both countries accused each other of violating the 2003 ceasefire. "Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing in the wee hours of this morning in Battal Chirikot and Satwal Sectors. A civilian named Muhammad Zubair embraced martyrdom due to unprovoked Indian shelling," military sources said. They said Pakistani troops effectively responded to the Indian firing. Indian officials, meanwhile, said on Monday that Pakistani troops "violated ceasefire again by resorting to unprovoked firing on our forward posts in Digwar, Mankote and Durga Battalion of Poonch." The Indian army also retaliated to firing from Pakistani side. However, The Indian army officials said they have not suffered any damage in the exchange, Indian media reported. Last week Indian officials claimed that five troops were killed and another was wounded in an ambush near Sarla in Poonch. India accused Pakistani troops of entering into their territory and carrying out the attack, a charge Pakistan denies. The killings and skirmishes on LoC have come at a time when New Delhi and Islamabad were trying to normalize ties and resume the talks. The killings, according to experts, are likely to overshadow the resumption of Indo-Pak dialogue process. New Delhi and Islamabad in 2003 agreed to observe a ceasefire along the international border and LoC in Kashmir. Though some violations have been reported on both sides, the ceasefire remains in effect. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their Independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. In January this year, skirmishes between armies of the two nuclear neighbors claimed lives of five soldiers, two from India and three from Pakistan.