BREAKING NEWS

Five Indian civilians killed in border clash with Pakistan

By REUTERS

OCTOBER 6, 2014 12:30

SRINAGAR - Five Indian civilians were killed and at least 25 wounded on Monday in fighting along a stretch of the disputed border with Pakistan in the disputed Kashmir region, the heaviest toll since India called off a round of peace talks last month.

The Himalayan region of Kashmir has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since they became independent in 1947. They have fought three wars and came close to a fourth in 2001 and there have been regular clashes along the de facto border, known as the Line of Control (LoC), in the area.

Pakistani forces shelled the village of Arnia about three km (two miles) from the border in the early hours of Monday, killing and wounding the civilians, according to Rakesh Kumar, an inspector general of the Indian border security forces.

The attack coincided with the Eid al-Adha festival, celebrated by Muslims in both countries. Pakistan's army did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Another Indian officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Brijesh Panday, said the army later shot dead three Pakistani-based militants trying to cross into India further along the heavily militarized LoC. Two militants escaped back to Pakistan, he said.

Muslim separatists have been fighting Indian forces in India's part of Kashmir since 1989. Pakistan rejects Indian accusations that it trains and arms the rebels in the part of Kashmir it controls and sends them into the Indian side.

The latest round of mortar and gunfire began on Friday, when Pakistan's army said it responded to "unprovoked firing" from the Indian side.

Indian Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said the army would retaliate to the latest violence.

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