At least three people, including an Indian Border Security Force (BSF) officer, died in heavy mortar shelling across the border between India and Pakistan, military officials from the two sides said on Monday.
Pakistani military officials said the sectors of Harpal, Pukhlian and Charwah along the disputed "working boundary" that separates Pakistan's Punjab province from Indian-administered Kashmir's Jammu region, was hit by the shelling.
The Indian military said the shelling occurred in the Pura, Pargwal and Kanachak sectors. A BSF spokesman told Reuters that the deceased BSF jawan has been identified as Sushil Kumar. He is the second BSF soldier to be killed by Pakistani firing in the last three days.
He also added that another BSF soldier and five civilians, including two women and a child, were also injured in the firing.
Ever since partition and independence from the British in 1947, both the countries have been claiming the disputed Kashmir region in full. But they have managed to rule separate portions of it.
Recently, the conflicts increased after the Uri attack in September that killed 18 Indian soldiers. It was the largest such attack in 14 years. India blamed Pakistan for the attack. It also said it had launched "surgical strikes" across the de facto border in Kashmir on Sept 29 to target Kashmiri fighters based there. However, Pakistan denied any incursion had occurred on its territory.
