Three Pakistan Army soldiers were killed and one Indian trooper was hurt in an exchange of fire by the rival militaries across the Line of Control (LoC), authorities said on Thursday.
Both sides accused each other of starting the hostilities in the first deadly incident across the de facto border in more than three months. Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas told AFP that the Pakistani soldiers had been moving between posts when they got lost in bad weather in the Neelum river valley before the gunfire started. “There was a fire exchange between the two sides. This was started by the Indian side – completely unprovoked firing, breaking the ceasefire, and after search of 24 hours their bodies were recovered,” he said. Indian army spokesman JS Brar said the Pakistanis shot first. “There was a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops in (northern) Keran sector that left our soldier injured,” he told AFP from Indian-held Kashmir. Brar said the first shots rang out late on Wednesday, adding that Pakistani troops had “again resorted to unprovoked firing” early on Thursday. “We have retaliated,” he added. At first Brar said the firing had stopped, but later he said some gunfire was continuing. “Heavy fire including artillery and mortar is being used by the other side but not by us,” he said, claiming it was the fourth violation of a ceasefire agreement along the border this year. The injured soldier was taken to an Indian army base hospital in Srinagar, he said, adding that he had no knowledge of Pakistani casualties.
