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RAWALAKOT: Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) personnel were firing across the Line of Control (LoC) in Rawalakot’s Battal sector in the early hours of Monday morning, said a report published by Reuters.
A Pakistani army official said a civilian was killed as a result of “unprovoked Indian shelling” in the Battal, Chirikot and Satwal sectors, according to the Reuters report. A mortar shell fired by the Indian army exploded on a house in Battal sector’s Donga Gambhir area, killing a young man and severely injuring his sister.
The army official added that Pakistani Rangers responded with retaliatory firing. The exchange of fire between the two armies continued for several hours.
Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan accused Indian forces of violating the ceasefire agreement between the countries on two counts, said a report published by AFP. 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’ check post 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 also resorted to retaliatory firing.
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 BSF soldier was injured in a sniper attack from the Pakistani side at Machial, northwest of Srinagar, in Indian-administered Kashmir.
Earlier on August 6, India accused Pakistani troops of involvement in 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 at an outpost some 200 kilometres south of Srinagar, Indian officials said.
The Pakistan army however denied responsibility.
The Foreign Office rejected allegations of Pakistan’s 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 LoC.
