Alwaght- 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-militarized 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.
Later Monday, Pakistan's foreign ministry summoned the Indian envoy over the latest round of fighting.
Senior official Mohammad Faisal condemned "unprovoked ceasefire violations" by India on Saturday and Monday, which authorities said left three civilians dead and five others wounded in the Rukh Chakri and Rawalakot sectors along the Line of Control.
"This is the fifth ceasefire violation by the Indian forces in the past 12 days resulting in the shahadat (martyrdom) of 11 civilians, including five women, and injuries to 37 others," the ministry said in a statement.
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 Pakistan said a five-year-old girl had been killed when she was hit by a bullet fired from the Indian side.
Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided since the partition of British colonial India into the dominion states of India and Pakistan in 1947. China also holds a small parcel of land.
The conflict in Indian-controlled Kashmir is basically a struggle for self-determination with residents of the region demanding a plebiscite while India rejects the call.
