Trooper, woman killed as India, Pakistan armies target each other on Kashmir LoC

An Indian army trooper and a woman were killed Monday, while another woman was wounded after the armies of India and Pakistan targeted each other's positions on Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir, officials said.

The two sides resorted to mortar shelling and heavy firing in several sectors of Poonch and Rajouri districts, southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"A trooper was killed due to Pakistani shelling in Rajouri along the LoC," an army official said. "Besides this, an elderly woman and her daughter were wounded in Pakistani shelling at Goulad village of Mendhar in Poonch district. However, the woman later succumbed to her wounds."

Indian army's northern command on Monday said they were strongly retaliating to cease-fire violations from Pakistan.

The past several weeks have seen a surge in skirmishes on LoC and International Border (IB) between the two countries. Apart from troop casualties, the firing has claimed civilian lives on both sides, besides prompting migrations of residents from frontier areas.

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

Reports said there have been more than 60 cease-fire violations in the past several weeks, which left eight troops and three civilians dead, besides wounding over 40 people, mostly civilians.

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. Endit