Two children killed as India, Pakistan trade fire in Kashmir

Two children were killed, on Monday, during an exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani troops in disputed Kashmir, Indian authorities said.

Twelve more civilians, including two women and two teenage girls, were wounded on the India’s side of the heavily-militarised Line of Control (LoC) that divides the restive Himalayan region. A police statement said firing had killed a 10-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl.

Tensions reached dangerous levels in September last year, with both sides blaming one another for cross-border raids. There have been repeated outbreaks of firing across the frontier, with both sides reporting deaths and injuries including to civilians since September 2016. Pakistan said over the weekend that two civilians had been killed in firing across the LoC.

Last month it said a five-year-old girl had been killed when she was hit by a bullet fired from the Indian side. New Delhi says Pakistan initiates cross-border firing, Islamabad denies the allegation and says it only provides diplomatic support to the Kashmiri struggle for the right to self-determination.