India accuses Pakistan of killing 3 soldiers in disputed Kashmir

Three Indian soldiers have been killed by what the country’s army described as unprovoked gunfire by Pakistani troops in the disputed border region of Kashmir.

According to Press TV, Indian Army Spokesman Rajesh Kalia alleged on Thursday that Pakistan had opened fire without provocation in the Nowgam sector earlier in the day, killing two Indian troops and injuring four more.

Another Indian soldier was killed in overnight gunfire by Pakistani forces in the Poonch sector of the region, he said. "Our troops responded strongly to the enemy fire."

Pakistan's Foreign Office said it had summoned a senior Indian diplomat in Islamabad to protest what it termed as ceasefire violations by Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) a day earlier, in which it said a 65-year-old civilian in the Jandrot sector had been wounded.

According to the official statement, Indian forces had committed 2,404 ceasefire violations this year, leading to the killing of 19 people and wounding of 192 civilians.

Indian army officials in the New Delhi-controlled Kashmir acknowledged last month for the first time ever the breach of standard operating procedure by its forces during alleged encounters in the disputed Himalayan region. 

The Indian army claimed back in July that it had killed three people in an armed encounter in Kashmir, alleging that they were foreign militants.

The killings during a stop and search operation triggered an outcry, amid accusations that the encounter was fabricated to justify the killings. A probe into the so-called anti-militancy operation then confirmed that the three youths were locals from the Rajouri district of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

ME