Pakistani, Indian Troops Exchange Fire

Posted January 6th, 2013 at 4:10 am (UTC-5)
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Pakistan and India are accusing each other for starting a deadly incident Sunday along their disputed border in Kashmir.

Pakistan's military says troops from India raided a Pakistani military post on the Kashmir border, killing one Pakistani soldier and critically wounding another. Pakistan says it repelled the attack.

Indian officials deny that any troops crossed the border, and accuse Pakistan of starting the skirmish with a mortar attack on an Indian village. India says its troops responded with small arms fire.

Both sides only agree that the two sides exchanged fire for some time across the Line of Control, which divides the Indian and Pakistani sides of disputed Kashmir. It has been a flashpoint of violence between the two neighbors for decades. A 2003 cease-fire has been largely observed, broken by occasional minor clashes that each side blames on the other.

Kashmir is claimed in full by India and Pakistan. Since 1989, various Muslim separatist groups have been fighting for Kashmir's independence from Hindu-majority India or for a merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan.

The nuclear-armed neighbors have fought two wars over the Himalayan region since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.