ISLAMABAD, - Four Pakistani soldiers were killed on Monday in shelling by Indian forces in the disputed Kashmir region, the Pakistani army said, the latest clash between the nuclear-armed neighbors who have also been exchanging heated challenges.



A decades-old dispute over the mostly Muslim Himalayan region of Kashmir, claimed in full but ruled in part by both Pakistan and India, has heated up in recent years after a 2003 ceasefire brought more than a decade of relative peace.



"Troops were busy in line communication maintenance when they were fired upon and hit by heavy mortar round," the Pakistani military said of the attack in which the four men were killed, in the Jandrot region.



Pakistani forces responded, killing three Indian soldiers and wounding several, it said.



India's military told Reuters that Pakistani forces fired first and no casualties were recorded on the Indian side. </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> SRINAGAR, India — An Indian paramilitary officer says a civilian and a soldier have been killed in firing by Pakistani troops along the volatile frontier in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

The officer said Pakistani soldiers fired mortars and automatic gunfire at several border posts in Jammu region on Friday in an "unprovoked" violation of the cease-fire accord between India and Pakistan in the contested region.

The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to provide information to the media.

A senior officer with India's Border Security Force, Arun Kumar, said border guards have killed 15 Pakistani soldiers in "retaliatory firing and shelling" since last week.

Troops from the two countries have regularly traded fire in recent weeks, causing casualties on both sides. </s> Pakistan’s military says Indian troops have fired across the border in the divided region of Kashmir, killing four Pakistani soldiers in the latest cease-fire violation in the disputed Himalayan region.

It says the Pakistani troops returned fire, reportedly killing three Indian soldiers. India didn’t confirm that report and the Pakistani army’s claim of Indian deaths could not be independently verified.

The statement says the Pakistani soldiers were “doing maintenance” on communication lines in the border village of Kotli when they came under fire on Monday. It says the troops were on the Pakistani side of the boundary.

The two nuclear-armed neighbors routinely trade fire in Kashmir, which both countries claim in its entirety.

Pakistan and India have fought two wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947. </s> MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani officials say the death toll from shelling by India of a passenger bus and villages along the dividing line in the disputed region of Kashmir has risen to 11.

Waheed Khan, a local official, says an artillery shell hit the bus in the Neelum Valley on Wednesday, killing nine people.

Police official Waseem Khan says another two died when a mortar shell hit their house in the Nakyal sector of the Pakistani-held part of Kashmir.

Pakistani army says troops are firing back on Indian military positions.

An Indian army spokesman, Col. Nitin Joshi, says India was responding to Pakistan’s violation of a cease-fire.

Tensions in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between the two nuclear-armed neighbors and claimed by both in its entirety, have escalated recently with deadly exchanges.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

Pakistan says shelling from India has targeted a passenger bus in the disputed region of Kashmir, killing four civilians and wounding seven.

A local official, Waheed Khan, says the civilians were killed when an Indian artillery shell hit the bus in the Neelum Valley on Wednesday.

The Pakistani army says troops are firing back on Indian military positions. There has been no immediate comment from India.

Pakistan and India have been trading fire recently in the Himalayan region, which is divided between the two nuclear-armed neighbors and claimed by both in its entirety.

This week, at least 11 people were killed on both sides.

Tensions have intensified since militants attacked an Indian army base in Kashmir in September. India alleged the militants were supported by Pakistan, charges denied by Islamabad. </s> ISLAMABAD/SRINAGAR, India Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed by Indian shelling across the frontier in the disputed Kashmir region overnight, Pakistan's military said on Monday, as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors simmer.

Pakistan's military media wing, ISPR, said in a statement the seven soldiers were killed in the Bhimber sector on the "Line of Control" de facto border in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

A spokesman for India's army said its soldiers had responded to Pakistani firing on Sunday night.

"There was a brief ceasefire violation initiated by Pakistani in Noushera sector which was effectively retaliated last night," the spokesman told Reuters, declining to comment on any Indian casualties.

He also said there was ongoing firing between the two countries' forces on Monday along another part of the frontier.

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

Tensions have been fraught since July when India-administered Kashmir was rocked by street protests after the killing of a militant leader there.

Islamabad launched an international campaign to highlight alleged rights abuses by Indian security forces in Kashmir, while New Delhi blamed Pakistan for fanning the unrest.

New Delhi also blamed Pakistan-based militants for a deadly attack on an Indian army base in the region in September, a charge Islamabad rejected.

Several days later, India said it had carried out "surgical strikes" on militant bases across the border. Pakistan dismissed the claim as "an illusion".

Kashmir lies at the heart of the tension between India and Pakistan and the countries have fought two of their three wars over the region since partition and independence from Britain in 1947.

(Reporting by Drazen Jorgic and Fayaz Bukhari; Additional reporting by Tommy Wilkes in NEW DELHI; Editing by Nick Macfie) </s> Pakistani troops on Monday resorted to shelling and firing on Indian posts in four sectors along the Line of Control in Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu and Kashmir, in which two persons including a jawan were injured.

“There have been unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Pakistani Army in Sunderbani and Naushera sectors of Rajouri district and Pallanwala sector of Jammu district,” a defence spokesman said.

Pakistani troops used 82mm mortar bombs and automatic weapons on Indian positions from 1440 hours in these sectors, he said.

A 67-year-old resident, Mangat Ram, was injured in Pakistani shelling in Khour area in Pallanwala sector, Jammu Deputy Commissioner Simrandeep Singh said.

Pakistani troops also resorted firing along the LoC in Khadi area of Poonch district, according to reports. One jawan was injured in the firing in Poonch.

The defence spokesman said the Indian troops gave “befitting reply” to Pakistani firing.

The ceasefire violations came after a lull of a few days on the border.

On November 12, an army jawan was killed in Pakistani firing in Keran sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district.

On November 10, another jawan, Satnam Singh, was killed in sniper shots from across the LoC in Machail sector of North Kashmir.

On November 8, two army jawans were killed in firing and shelling along LoC in Naushera sector of Rajouri district.

On November 6, two army jawans were killed and five others -- two soldiers, a Border Security Force officer and two women – were injured as Pakistani army opened fire in an attempt to facilitate two infiltration bids along the LoC in Krishna Ghati and Poonch sectors of Poonch district.

The worst-ever Pakistani shelling targeting civil population took place on November 1 when eight persons, including two children and four women, were killed and 22 others injured along the International Border and the LoC in five sectors of Jammu-Kashmir, forcing Indian troops to give befitting reply by destroying 14 Pakistani posts and killing two of their troopers.

The 2003 India-Pakistan ceasefire agreement has virtually become redundant with a whopping 286 incidents of firing and shelling along LoC and IB in Jammu and Kashmir by Pakistani troops that resulted in death of 26 people, including 14 security personnel, since the surgical strike on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

There have been 186 ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops along the over 190 km International Border in Jammu frontier, while 104 violations of the agreement took place along the over 500 km Line of Control. </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> At least three Pakistani soldiers have been killed by Indian border forces in Kashmir, according to officials in Islamabad, while an equal number of Indian troops and one suspected rebel were gunned down in separate clashes.

The Pakistani troops died early on Tuesday after being wounded overnight, Pakistan's army said in a statement, adding that Indian troops had fired across the Line of Control, a de facto frontier that divides the Himalayan valley between the two countries.

Hours later, three Indian soldiers were killed in a gun battle with suspected rebels in India-administered Kashmir.

One suspected rebel also died in the clash in Bandipora district, the Indian army's Northern Command said.

Renewed violence

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since they won independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the territory in its entirety.

Several rebel groups have for decades fought the 500,000 Indian troops deployed in the region, demanding independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan.

The fighting has left tens of thousands, mostly civilians, dead.

READ MORE: Shot in the eyes - Kashmiri girl tells her story

The latest violence came three days after four suspected rebels, a civilian and three soldiers, were killed in south Kashmir, sparking pro-independence demonstrations that were put down with live ammunition and pellet guns, wounding more than two dozen people.

The disputed region has seen renewed protests and attacks following the killing of a popular rebel commander in July last year.

At least 100 civilians have been killed in the subsequent crackdown, according to health officials.
Four Pakistani soldiers are killed in shelling by the Indian Army across the disputed Kashmir frontier.