4 civilians killed as Indian, Pakistani troops exchange fire

In an escalation of tensions, India and Pakistani troops traded heavy gunfire and mortars in Kashmir on Saturday, killing at least four civilians and injuring 23 others in the disputed Himalayan region, officials said. Police Inspector-General Danish Rana said three civilians were killed after their car was hit by a shell fired by Pakistani troops in the Balakote sector of the divided region. The dead included a village headman. Rana said at least 20 civilians were wounded in the fighting at different places in the region and that at least six of them were being airlifted to neighboring Jammu city for treatment. Each side blamed the other for the violence.

The three died when their car was hit by a shell fired from the Pakistani side. Twenty are injured, some of them had to be flown to a hospital in Jammu (the nearest city).

Danesh Rana, inspector general of police for the region

The nuclear-armed South Asian rivals have been exchanging heavy intermittent fire across the Line of Control almost daily for a week. The military action continued even as the two countries were celebrating their independence from Britain in 1947 over the weekend. Kashmir, the Himalayan territory which is ruled separately by India and Pakistan, has been divided between the two countries since the end of British colonial rule in the sub continent but is claimed in full by both. The bitter rivals signed a border ceasefire agreement in 2003 which has largely held, but both report violations, frequently accusing each other of unprovoked firing across their border. While relations between the two neighbours remain chilly, their respective national security advisors are scheduled to meet in the Indian capital New Delhi on August 23 as a confidence-building measure following their premiers’ summit meeting in Russia in July.

World Kashmir