Ayaz Gul
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s military says intense clashes with India along the disputed Kashmir frontier Monday killed at least four Pakistani civilians and wounded 10 others.
The army’s media wing, in a statement said, “effective retaliatory fire" killed six Indian soldiers.
It did not cite sources for the Indian casualty toll and there has been no immediate reaction from India on the Pakistani claims.
On Saturday, Pakistan alleged that “unprovoked” firing by Indian forces on civilian areas in Kashmir killed at least four children.
Islamabad summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to the Foreign Ministry earlier on Monday to issue a formal protest over the incident and to urge New Delhi to respect the Kashmir cease-fire truce, according to an official statement.
Clashes between the two nuclear-armed rival nations in the divided Kashmir region have become routine in recent weeks, causing civilian and army casualties on both sides.
Islamabad and New Delhi blame each other for firing the first shot in violation of a 2003 cease-fire deal in the Himalayan region.
The military tensions have raised fears of a wider conflict between them as a wide-ranging bilateral peace dialogue remains suspended.
This story first appeared on Voice of America & is reposted here with permission.