India says Pakistan killed two soldiers near Kashmir border, violating ceasefire

There has been a ceasefire in the region since 2003

Indian soldiers patrol the country's border with Pakistan (Getty)

Two Indian soldiers were killed in firing by Pakistani troops along the highly militarised frontier that divides disputed Kashmir between the two rivals, India's army said Tuesday.

Pakistani soldiers used mortars and automatic gunfire overnight to strike at Indian positions in Sunderbani sector along the Line of Control in violation of the cease-fire accord of 2003 between the nuclear-armed neighbours, said Indian army spokesman Col. Nitin Joshi.

Joshi called the Pakistani firing and shelling "unprovoked and indiscriminate" and said Indian soldiers retaliated "strongly and effectively."

There was no immediate reaction from Pakistan.

In the past, both countries have accused the other of initiating border skirmishes leading to casualties on both sides.

This year, soldiers from the two nations have been engaged in fierce border skirmishes along the rugged and mountainous Line of Control, as well as a lower-altitude 125-mile boundary separating Indian-controlled Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab.

The fighting earlier this year sent thousands of border residents to temporary shelters for days.

India and Pakistan have a long history of bitter relations over Kashmir, a Himalayan territory claimed by both in its entirety. They have fought two of their three wars since 1947 over their competing claims to the region

Associated Press