Three Indian soldiers killed near Kashmir frontier, army says
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An Indian paramilitary soldier in downtown Srinagar, Kashmir
Three Indian soldiers have been killed in an attack by unknown assailants along the de facto border dividing the disputed region of Kashmir between Pakistan and India, the army says.
Indian army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the attackers on Tuesday also mutilated the body of one soldier.
Kalia warned that "retribution will be heavy for this cowardly act."
The Indian army spokesman, however, did not say if the attack had been carried out by Pakistani troops or fighters operating against the Indian rule in the Muslim-majority region.
India and Pakistan have been trading fire in recent months in the Himalayan region along the Line of Control (LoC).
On November 19, three children were killed in a mortar attack by Indian troops in Pakistan-administrated Kashmir.
New Delhi blames Islamabad for a raid on an army base in Indian-controlled Kashmir in September, which killed 19 soldiers. The Indian army blames Pakistan-based militants for the assault. Islamabad denies any role in the deadly assault.
Diplomatic tensions generated between the two sides in late October, when India ordered one employee of the Pakistani High Commission out of the country, saying he was a suspected spy. Islamabad expelled an Indian diplomat in a tit-for-tat move.
EA
