At least three Pakistan Army soldiers, who were injured in Indian firing across the Line of Control (LoC), succumbed to injuries, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public relations (ISPR).

"Three Pakistani soldiers succumb to wounds," said the military’s media wing.

The incident occurred in the Thoob sector of Bhimber district.

The ISPR statement added that Indian forces also suffered casualties in the latest incident of cross-border firing. </s> MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Indian shelling across the frontier into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir hit a bus, killing at least nine people, and three Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border firing, Pakistani officials said on Wednesday.

India, in a statement, expressed grief at Pakistani civilian casualties but said: “Retaliatory firing by Indian troops has only been carried out targeting locations from where Pakistan has initiated ceasefire violations on Indian posts.”

Describing the bus incident, Pakistani police official Jamil Mir put the number of dead at nine. He told Reuters four bodies were taken to a nearby hospital and five were still trapped in the bus.

Pakistan also said its military killed seven Indian soldiers on Wednesday.

Following the incident, Pakistan said it had summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, J.P. Singh.

Pakistan’s military media wing, ISPR, put the death toll from the bus shelling at seven, adding three Pakistani soldiers were killed “while responding to Indian unprovoked firing.”

ISPR said: “We reserve the right to respond at the place and time of our choosing.”

Lawat, where the bus was hit, is 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-held Kashmir, in the upper belt of the Neelum Valley that straddles the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

An Indian military spokesman said the Pakistani Army initiated “indiscriminate” firing on Wednesday on Indian Army posts in Bhimber Gali, Krishna Ghati and Nawshera sectors.

Relations between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified leading to the deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier.

Kashmir lies at the heart of the tension. The countries have fought two of their three wars over the region since partition and independence from Britain in 1947. </s> Violence has continued across the de-facto border between Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, known as the Line of Control (LoC).

Two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in cross-border fire with Indian forces over the LoC on Saturday, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

The fighting took place at Nakiyal Sector, the Army's statement said. The dead soldiers have been named as Havaldar Abdur Rub and Naik Khuram.

The ISPR reports that Indian troops also sustained casualties and there was damage to the post. </s> ISLAMABAD - Three Pakistani soldiers were martyred on Monday in unprovoked firing by the Indian forces at Thoob Sector near Bhimber on the Line of Control (LoC), said ISPR.

The soldiers who embraced Shahadat are Naik Ghulam Rasool, Naik Imran Zafar and Sepoy Imam Bukhsh.

According to the ISPR, Indian forces violated ceasefire in Thoob Sector near Bhimber. However, it said, they were responded effectively and there are reports of Indian casualties as a result.

Earlier, seven Pakistani soldiers were martyred when Indian security forces opened unprovoked firing in the Bhimber district of the LoC on November 14 last year.

On November 24, three Pakistan Army soldiers were killed.

Tension between Pakistan and India heightened last year after killing of Burhan Wani in July last year.

Pakistan believes that Indian is deliberately committing Cease Fire Violation (CFVs) to cover up its atrocities against Kashmiris in Indian occupied Kashmir.

According to Pakistan Army, Indian forces committed at least 317 ceasefire violations along the LoC and Working Boundary during the past three months in which 19 civilians were killed and 80 others injured. </s> At least three Pakistan Army soldiers have been injured in Indian firing across the Line of Control (LoC), said a statement from the Inter-Services Public relations (ISPR).

“Three Pakistani soldiers critically injured,” said ISPR. The incident occurred in the Thoob sector of Bhimber district.

The ISPR statement added that Indian forces also suffered casualties in the latest incident of cross-border skirmishing.

Incidents of cross-border firing were reported with frequency in the last months of 2016 as tensions simmered between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir issue. Exchanges of fire have been reported sporadically since the new year began.

Following the Uri army base attack in September, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up a drive to isolate Pakistan diplomatically.

In the days following the attack, India claimed to have conducted a cross-border ‘surgical strike’ against ‘launch pads of terror’ in Azad Jammu and Kashmir — a claim Pakistan strongly rejected.

Pakistan maintains that India is attempting to divert the world’s attention away from ‘atrocities’ committed by government forces in India-held Kashmir.

The two countries have locked horns over the Kashmir issue after Indian forces stepped up a crackdown against protesters after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed by government forces in July. </s> Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to lodge protest against unprovoked Indian firing along the Line of Control (LoC), which resulted in the deaths of three Pakistani soldiers.

Islamabad deplored the increasing Indian ceasefire violations along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, especially in the last two months.

This belligerent attitude of Indian occupation forces is a serious threat to the regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, said the statement.

Foreign Office asked the Indian deputy high commissioner to convey to his government that it must stop the provocative firing and observe the ceasefire.

Three Pakistani soldiers were killed on Monday in unprovoked firing by the Indian forces at Thoob Sector near Bhimber on the Line of Control (LoC), said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

Tension between Pakistan and India heightened last year after killing of Burhan Wani in July last year.

According to Pakistan Army, Indian forces committed at least 317 ceasefire violations along the LoC and Working Boundary during the past three months in which 19 civilians were killed and 80 others injured. </s> At least four Pakistani army soldiers were killed in a fresh round of border clashes with Indian forces on the disputed Kashmir border on Monday, Pakistan’s army said.

Three Indian soldiers were also killed and several others injured in an exchange of fire, Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistan’s army media wing, said in a statement.

"Indian forces fired heavy mortar rounds on Pakistani soldiers when they were busy with line communication maintenance along the Line of Control in Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Jandrot sector," the statement added.

The latest cross border-attack incident comes days after Indian Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat’s statement threatening a "nuclear bluff," drawing a strong condemnation from Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, who branded it irresponsible and not befitting Rawat’s office.

According to Pakistan's Foreign Office, so far this year, Indian forces have committed more than 70 cease-fire violation along the disputed Kashmir border, killing one civilian and injuring five.

India and Pakistan share more than 950 kilometers (590 miles) of border in disputed Kashmir. The two countries signed a cease-fire agreement in 2003, but they violate it regularly.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, the two countries have fought three wars – in 1948, 1965 and 1971 – two of them over Kashmir.

Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict so far, most by the Indian armed forces. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region. </s> India countered it saying that it was Pakistan which resorted to firing which was effectively retaliated.

Tensions between Indian and Pakistan escalated on Monday as Pakistan claiming that seven of its soldiers were killed in cross border firing by the Indian Army along the Line of Control (LoC). India countered it saying that it was Pakistan which resorted to firing which was effectively retaliated.

This is a departure from the past trend when Pakistan has been quiet on casualties despite Indian claims of “inflicting heavy damage.”

“Seven soldiers embraced shahadat at LoC in Bhimber sector in cross fire LOC violation by Indian troops late last night. Pakistani troops while responding to Indian unprovoked firing targeted Indian posts effectively,” the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan claimed in a post on social media site Facebook. More details to follow, it added.

Indian Army sources said that there was ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Naushera sector on Sunday night and they had responded appropriately. They denied any loss on Indian side as claimed by some reports from Pakistan and said they cannot confirm casualties on the Pakistani side.

“We cannot comment on Pakistani claims on casualties their side. They could be lower or even higher,” on officer said.

This marks a new level of escalation in the ongoing ceasefire violations along the LoC and International Boundary (IB) between the two countries since the surgical strikes by the Indian Army in September.

Over 130 incidents of ceasefire violations have been reported on the LoC and over 180 violations on the IB since the surgical strikes. So far 13 security personnel were killed on the Indian side including 10 Army soldiers along the LoC and three jawans of the Border Security Force (BSF) at the IB.

M Nafees Zakaria, Pakistan Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said in a tweet, “We strongly condemn continuous unprovoked #CFVbyIndia in Bhimber Sector, resulting in martyrdom of seven Pakistani soldiers.”

Pakistan Army responding in befitting manner, he said in another tweet and added, “We salute our valiant soldiers who render ultimate sacrifices for national cause.”

To protest the incident, Pakistan Foreign office has summoned the Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale in Islamabad.

Meanwhile, media reports in Pakistan reported that several Indian soldiers were killed in retaliatory fire by Pakistan.

Tribune of Pakistan stated that “five Indian soldiers have been confirmed to have been shot and four Indian posts destroyed at Bhimber sector” quoting sources in the military. Army sources dismissed the reports as incorrect.

“We don’t hide our casualties. If there is something it will come out,” one officer along the LoC said. </s> RAWALPINDI: Unprovoked Indian firing on Line of Control (LoC) in Thob Sector near Bhimber on Monday martyred three Pakistan Army soldiers.

 The unprovoked firing by India was responded effectively, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) here stated in a news release.

 Reports of Indian casualties in exchange of fire. ISPR
Pakistan Army's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reports seven Pakistani soldiers have been killed by Indian cross-border shelling in Bhimber District, Azad Kashmir.