Islamabad, Dec. 24, (dpa/GNA) – A Pakistani soldier was killed in fresh border clashes with Indian forces in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir on Thursday, Pakistan’s military said.
The soldier was killed in Satwal sector on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control (LoC), a de facto frontier that divides Kashmir into two parts controlled by Pakistan and India.
“Pakistan’s army responded effectively to Indian firing, causing substantial damage to Indian troops and men,” the military’s media wing, the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR).
An Indian decision in August last year to strip the part of Kashmir it controls of its special autonomous status has triggered fresh tensions and deadly border skirmishes.
Border clashes have increased in recent weeks, and Pakistan’s military has been put on high alert.
Pakistan has accused Indian troops of deliberately opening fire on a UN vehicle carrying two observers on the Pakistani side of Kashmir.
Indian forces have committed over 3,000 ceasefire violations in which 28 people were killed and more than 250 injured during this year, according to Pakistan’s foreign ministry.
Pakistani authorities summoned a senior Indian diplomat at least three times to protest ceasefire violations in the last week.
The two countries reached a ceasefire agreement in 2003, but they often accuse each other of violating it.
The nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours have already fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, a scenic Himalayan valley.
GNA