Pakistan accuses India of attack on border posts
By AFP
Published: August 11, 2013
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Sunday accused Indian forces of firing on its border posts close to eastern city of Sialkot, Punjab province, sparking an intermittent exchange of fire between the two sides.
The fighting is the latest in a spate of recent cross-border skirmishes between the two nuclear-armed neighbours who have fought three wars since independence from the British rule in 1947, two over the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.
Tensions have recently flared up in the heavily militarised Kashmir valley with both accusing each other of cross-border firings but Sundays incident took place near the border in neighbouring Punjab province.
Indian Border Security Forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pakistani Rangers posts near Pukhlian, Head Marala area, in Sialkot sector, a senior military official, told AFP.
Intermittent exchange of fire continues. No loss reported so far, the official added on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to talk to media.
Indian Defence Minister A K Antony on Thursday hinted at stronger military action along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir after Delhi accused Pakistans army of involvement in a deadly overnight ambush on Monday that killed five Indian soldiers.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tried to ease tensions with India by urging both sides to work swiftly to shore up a 10-year ceasefire threatened by the recent attacks.
But in a fresh allegation of their own on Thursday, Pakistani military officials accused Indian troops of opening fire and seriously wounding a male civilian in the Tatta Pani sector along the LoC.
The picturesque Himalayan territory of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan by the UN-monitored LoC, the de facto border, but is claimed in full by both countries.
A deadly flare-up along the LoC in January brought peace talks to a halt. They had only just resumed after a three-year hiatus sparked by the 2008 attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people. India blamed Pakistani militants for the attack.
More than a dozen armed rebel groups have been fighting Indian forces since 1989, demanding independence for Kashmir or its merger with Pakistan.
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Pakistan accuses India of ceasefire violations
AGENCIES
Updated 2013-08-11 15:03:24
SIALKOT: Pakistan accused on Sunday Indian forces of violating the ceasefire agreement between the countries on two counts. However, no casualties were reported in either incident.
Indian troops opened fire at a Rangers checkpost situated in Nakiyal sector on Sunday afternoon, Pakistani military sources claimed.
Pakistani military sources had earlier accused India of opening unprovoked fire on a Pakistani Rangers checkpost in the Sialkot sector on Sunday morning.
Indian Border Security Forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pakistani Rangers posts near Pukhlian, Head Marala area, in Sialkot sector, an unnamed senior military official, told AFP..
Pakistan Rangers resorted to retaliatory firing.
According to military sources, the exchange of fire continued for a few hours, but no loss of life was reported.
Following the attack, Rangers called for investigations to be launched into the incident.
Moreover the Indian news website, The Time of India reported on Sunday, that an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier was injured in a sniper attack from the Pakistani side, along the border between the two countries at Machial, northwest of Srinagar, in Indian administered Kashmir.
Earlier on August 6, India accused Pakistani troops of involvement over an attack on an army post in the disputed Kashmir region in which five of its soldiers were killed.
The five were killed late Monday night on August 6 at an outpost some 200 kilometres south of Srinagar, Indian officials said.
The Pakistan army however denied responsibility.
The Foreign Office rejected allegations of Pakistans involvement as baseless and unfounded, saying the country was committed to its ceasefire promises and wanted to resume peace talks with India soon.
Meanwhile, the Directors General Military Operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India on August 7 spoke over the hotline on the situation on the LoC, a UN-monitored de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
Pakistan's DGMO Major General Ashfaq Nadeem strongly denied that Pakistani troops were involved in the killing of five Indian soldiers, adding that the accusations levelled against the country's soldiers were without foundation and utterly baseless, sources said.
Major General Nadeem moreover told his Indian counterpart that Pakistan wholeheartedly respected the ceasefire agreement with India.
On August 8, Pakistani military officials said Indian troops opened fire and seriously wounded a male civilian along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir.
Pakistan accuses India of ceasefire violations - DAWN.COM