1st LD Writethru: India, Pakistan skirmishes on Kashmir LoC kills 2 Indian troopers

Two Indian military troopers were killed Monday in skirmishes with Pakistan military on Line of Control (LoC), officials said.

The skirmishes broke out in Gurez sector of Bandipora district, about 145 km north of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"A cease-fire violation took place today in Gurez sector and two of our soldiers were killed," Indian military spokesman Col N N Joshi told Xinhua.

Reports said both sides used heavy machine gunfire and rockets to target each other.

According to Joshi, Pakistan resorted to "unprovoked" firing in the sector in afternoon.

"A befitting retaliation was carried out by the army and right now firing has stopped," Joshi said.

The fresh cease-fire violation has come days ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the restive region.

Modi is scheduled to address a rally in Srinagar on Saturday during his visit.

Last month four civilians, one on Indian side and three on Pakistan side, were killed and several others wounded in similar skirmishes on International Border (IB) in Kashmir after a lull of more than a month.

In September, the two sides agreed to stop mortar shelling and firing on each other during the Director General-level talks between its border guards.

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

The troops of India and Pakistan intermittently exchange fire on 720 km-long Line of Control (LoC) and 198 km IB in Kashmir, despite an agreement in 2003 to observe cease-fire. Though some violations have been reported on both sides, the cease-fire however remains in effect.

Indian officials said last year 564 cease-fire violations, 411 along IB and 153 violations along LoC, were recorded.

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