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| India-Pakistan |
| Unprovoked Indian firing injures two Kashmiri children |
| 2010-03-03 |
| [Dawn] Two children were wounded in "unprovoked firing" by Indian forces across the de facto border dividing the disputed Kashmir region, Pakistani officials said on Tuesday. An Indian army spokesman said soldiers had retaliated after Pakistani troops opened fire. Pakistan said the shooting, in the Battal sector of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, known as Azad Kashmir, took place on Monday night, just days after the nuclear-armed neighbours held their first official talks in more than year. "An innocent boy and a girl were seriously injured due to unprovoked firing by Indian troops across the Line of Control," a military official said, referring to the line dividing the Pakistani and Indian portions of the Himalayan region. "Pakistani troops responded effectively," he said without giving details. Indian army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Biplab Nath said Pakistani troops also fired several rocket-propelled grenades. "We retaliated after 30 minutes, aiming only on Pakistani military posts," Nath said. Both sides routinely blame the other for provoking fire in such incidents. There has been a spate of clashes in the past few months along the Line of Control and on the border to the south but they are not expected to spark a broader conflict. Pakistan and India have fought two of their three wars over Muslim-majority Kashmir, which is divided between the South Asian neighbours who both claim it in full. India suspended a tentative four-year-old peace process with Pakistan after an attack on the Indian city of Mumbai in November 2008 by Pakistan-based militants in which 166 people were killed. India accuses Pakistan of backing separatist militants fighting its forces in its part of Kashmir. Pakistan says it only offers Kashmiri separatists political backing. Top diplomats from the two countries met in New Delhi last week in their first officials talks since the Mumbai attack. They agreed to "keep in touch" but India declined to resume a broad series of talks on outstanding disputes known as the composite dialogue. The United States wants to see ties between the countries improve so Pakistan can focus on fighting militants on its Afghan border. |
| Posted by:Fred |