BackIndia, Pakistan troops trade border fire
No one was injured in the latest incident, which according to a Pakistani army statement began with unprovoked fire across the border by Indian troops
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Islamabad: Indian and Pakistani troops traded cross-border fire on Sunday, officials said, the latest in a series of clashes that began earlier this month and have claimed at least 20 civilian lives.
No one was injured in the latest incident, which according to a Pakistani army statement began when Indian troops resorted to “unprovoked" fire across the border that separates Indian-held Kashmir and Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Each country holds part of the Himalayan territory but claims it in full. The two nations have fought two full-scale wars over Kashmir, though tensions have eased since the signing of a 2003 ceasefire.
It is still unclear what precipitated the recent upsurge in unrest, which began on 6 October during the Islamic festival of Eid ul-Adha and has forced thousands of residents on both sides to flee their homes.
Pakistan’s most senior foreign affairs official Sartaj Aziz meanwhile had a phone conversation with UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, officials said.
He told Ban that Islamabad “was fully united and determined to thwart any aggression", according to a statement released by his office.
Aziz also called on the UN to implement its 1947 resolution calling for a referendum in Kashmir to determine its fate and restore peace to the region—a resolution India has long rejected.
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