Two Indian soldiers were killed Monday by rockets and mortars fired by Pakistan along the highly militarized de facto border that divides the disputed region of Kashmir between the nuclear-armed rivals, the Indian army said.
Pakistani soldiers fired at two Indian positions southwest of the Line of Control in the Krishna Ghati sector, the army said in a statement.
It said Pakistani soldiers also ambushed an Indian patrol operating between the two posts and mutilated the bodies of two Indian soldiers.
The statement called the incident an “unprovoked” firing by Pakistani soldiers and said the “unsoldierly act” would be “appropriately responded.”
There was no immediate reaction from the Pakistani army.
In the past, both countries have accused the other of initiating border skirmishes leading to the deaths of soldiers and civilians on both sides.
Last year, Indian and Pakistani soldiers engaged in some of the worst fighting along the Line of Control since the two nations agreed to a cease-fire accord in 2003. India accused attackers from the Pakistani side of Kashmir of entering the Indian-held portion and mutilating the body of one of three slain Indian soldiers.
India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed by both. They have fought two of their three wars over the region since they gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
The Line of Control is guarded by the Indian and Pakistani armies and divides the two parts of Kashmir. Each country also has a separate paramilitary border force guarding the lower-altitude frontier separating Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab.
source:UNB
