Indian trooper, border guard killed on Kashmir LoC

An Indian army officer and a border guard belonging to Border Security Force (BSF) were killed on Monday in an exchange of fire with Pakistani troops on the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir, officials said.

The two sides exchanged fire on the LoC in Krishna Ghati sector of frontier Poonch district, about 180 km southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Today Pakistani troops fired on our joint operational party in K G sector of Poonch district, during which a BSF man and a junior commissioned officer of army were killed," Dharmendra Parikh, a senior BSF officer told Xinhua. "Another BSF man was wounded and he has been removed to hospital."

According to Parikh, the Pakistani side used automatic weapons and fired rockets targeting the operational party.

The firing broke out around 8:30 local time (0300 GMT) and lasted for several hours.

In April, several cease-fire violations were reported on LoC in Poonch and adjacent Rajouri districts.

Last year saw a surge in skirmishes on the International Border (IB) and the LoC 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.

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

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