Five killed, 3 hurt in Kashmir shelling
( 2003-09-01 11:40) (Agencies)
Pakistani and Indian troops traded heavy weapons fire in Kashmir on Sunday, killing five people and wounding three others in Pakistan's portion of the Himalayan region, police said.
A 15-year-old girl was hit by shrapnel from an Indian artillery shell that landed near her home in Nakyal, about 160 miles south of Muzaffarabad, the capital of the Pakistan-controlled part of Kashmir, said Raja Ghulam Sarwar, a police superintendent in Muzaffarabad.
Four more civilians were killed in shelling later Sunday, Sarwar said.
Both sides used mortars and artillery across the Line of Control, which splits Kashmir between Pakistan and India. Each claim the former princely state in its entirety.
Border skirmishes between Pakistani and Indian forces are common, with most of the resulting casualties being civilians caught in the crossfire.
Three people wounded elsewhere in Nakyal on Sunday were listed in serious condition as sporadic shooting continued, Sarwar said. Sporadic shooting was continuing in the region, he said.
The nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since they became independent from British rule in 1947.
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