India, Pakistan armies trade fire in Kashmir

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India, Pakistan armies trade fire in Kashmir

(Xinhua) 20:21, September 16, 2013

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The armies of India and Pakistan Monday fired at each other's positions on the line-of-control (LoC) in Kashmir, officials said.

The ceasefire violation started Sunday night and continued until early Monday in Mandi and Garhi areas of frontier Poonch district, around 185 km southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Pakistani army last night at 11:30 p.m. fired small arms and automatics at our positions in Mandi and Garhi sectors. The firing continued until 3:45 a.m. today," said S. N. Acharaya, Indian army spokesman in Jammu. "Our side also retaliated to Pakistani firing with similar caliber weapons."

The firing from both sides continued for more than four hours. This was the second ceasefire violation in less than 24 hours.

Acharaya said the Indian side has not suffered any damage from Pakistani firing.

The ceasefire violation has come after India's External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Pakistan's adviser on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz agreed to respect the LoC ceasefire agreement of 2003. The leaders on Friday met in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit.

The two leaders also agreed to a meeting of the prime ministers of the two countries in New York later this month on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session.

New Delhi and Islamabad in 2003 agreed to observe ceasefire along the international border and LoC in Kashmir. Though some violations have been reported on both sides, the ceasefire remains in effect.

Skirmishes between two armies are going on almost on daily basis for the past one month. The majority of the exchanges took place on LoC in Poonch.

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

India and Pakistan blame each other of resorting to unprovoked firing that triggers skirmishes resulting in civilian or troop casualties on either side.

During the last month's flare up, eight troopers, five from the Indian side and three from the Pakistani side, were killed.

Indian officials said since January this year, over 90 ceasefire violations have been recorded on the LoC.