India says Pakistani shelling killed three soldiers in Kashmir

Three Indian soldiers have been killed by Pakistani shelling across the disputed border in Indian-administered Kashmir, the Indian army said. Indian army spokesman Rajesh Kalia said Pakistan opened fire without provocation in the Nowgam sector early on Thursday, killing two Indian soldiers and wounding four. Another Indian soldier was killed in overnight firing by Pakistani troops in the Poonch sector, he said. “Our troops responded strongly to the enemy fire,” said Kalia. Pakistan accused Indian forces of violating a ceasefire in the region and injuring one civilian. Shelling frequently erupts along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing the Kashmir region that both nuclear-armed countries claim in full but govern in part. Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement on Thursday it had summoned a senior Indian diplomat in Islamabad to protest against ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the LoC a day earlier, in which a 65-year-old civilian in the Jandrot sector was wounded. Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri accused New Delhi of escalating tension along the LoC “to divert world attention from its human rights violations in Indian-occupied Kashmir”. The statement said India had committed 2,404 ceasefire violations this year, resulting in 19 deaths and injuries to 192 civilians. India says Pakistani troops often open fire to help armed fighters sneak across the LoC to join a decades-long armed revolt. Pakistan says it gives only moral and diplomatic support to the Kashmiri people fighting for self-determination. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">