5 injured in exchange of firing with India: Pakistan army

Pakistan army on Thursday reported "intense and heavy exchange of fire" with Indian forces along the working boundary as there is no let-up in the firing, with 5 Pakistani civilians injured.

"Intense and heavy exchange of fire continued for 11 hours on Harpar and Chuprar sectors on the Working Boundary between Indian and Pakistani forces," the army said Thursday in a statement.

It said that the Pakistani Rangers "befittingly responded" to the Indian unprovoked firing and targeted Indian posts inflicting heavy casualties.

"On Pakistani side, 5 civilians were injured due to Indian unprovoked firing," the army's Inter-Services Public Relations said.

There has been escalation along the Line of Control (LoC) and the working boundary since suspected militants attacked an army base in the Indian-controlled Kashmir. The Sept. 18 attack killed 19 Indian soldiers.

India blamed the Pakistan-based "Jaish-e-Mohammad" group and also pointed fingers at Pakistan. Islamabad rejected the charges and suggested independent investigation.

On Wednesday, Pakistani army said that two civilians were killed by Indian firing and eight others were injured in a cross-LoC firing. Meanwhile Pakistan summoned an Indian diplomat Wednesday over the recent cross-LoC attack, the foreign ministry here said.

However, firing exchanges take place time to time and the cross-LoC firing and shelling have increased in recent days. Both countries accuse each other for the 2003 ceasefire violations. Endit