Home Latest News Five Killed in Pakistan-India Border Clashes

Five Killed in Pakistan-India Border Clashes

by AFP
AFP

AFP

U.S. urges neighbors to pursue dialogue as a means of resolving current standoff.

Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire along their tense border on Monday, killing four civilians and a soldier in the latest in a series of deadly clashes, officials said.

Tensions between the neighbors escalated last week when an Indian border guard and two Pakistani paramilitary soldiers were killed during exchanges of heavy fire.

Indian shelling killed four Pakistani civilians including a teenage boy and a woman near Sialkot on Monday, a military spokesman in Islamabad said. “A total of four civilians [were martyred] this evening due to Indian BSF shelling on civilian population,” the military spokesman said in a statement. “Pakistani Rangers are effectively responding to India’s [unprovoked] firing,” the statement added.

There was no immediate reaction from the Indian government.

Earlier in the day, an Indian paramilitary soldier was killed in another clash along the border in disputed Kashmir. “A BSF [Border Security Force] constable who was injured in the firing from Pakistan in Hiranagar sector this afternoon has died,” said Rajesh Kumar, inspector general of police for the region.

Kumar said the Indian side retaliated after coming under fire from Pakistani rockets in the Samba sector.

The United States offered its condolences on the deaths, calling for greater dialogue between the two countries. “Our thoughts would go out to the families of any lives who have been lost,” Jen Psaki, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said. “We certainly remain concerned and watch over tensions along the border. And we encourage dialogue between the countries,” Psaki said.

Recent exchanges of fire across the de facto border, known as the Line of Control (LoC) have killed more than two dozen civilians and forced thousands to flee their homes on both sides. Pakistan and India have traded blame for the upsurge in firing and shelling which started on Oct. 6.

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