Pakistani troops fire at Indian positions on Kashmir border
July 17, 2010 - 0:0
Srinagar (DPA)- Pakistani troops opened fire at five forward Indian posts in Kashmir, hours after a high-level dialogue between the countries in Islamabad, officials said Friday.
Pakistani Rangers fired rockets and mortars from across the Line of Control that divides the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan late Thursday, a senior Indian Army officer said on condition of anonymity.The two sides traded intermittent gunfire for several hours in the Krishnaghati sector of Poonch district, 280 kilometers north-west of the state's winter capital Jammu. No injuries were reported.
The officer said the Indian authorities “plan to lodge a strong protest with Pakistan.”
The incident was the sixth violation by Pakistani forces of a November 2003 ceasefire agreement in the past fortnight, according to the Indian authorities.
Meanwhile, Indian troops continued to fight separatist militants in clashes that started in Poonch on Tuesday, leaving an army officer and two militants dead.
Indian officials have accused the Pakistani Rangers of opening fire to cover for militants crossing into India to support the Muslim separatist insurgency, which has claimed more than 45,000 lives over the last two decades.
Indian Foreign Minister SM Krishna raised the issue of militant infiltration with his Pakistan counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureishi in Islamabad late Thursday, he told the press after the meeting.
Qureshi denied any involvement by Pakistani authorities, suggesting India deal with the problem itself.