Islamabad: The Pakistani military on Monday accused India of killing seven soldiers in cross-border fire in the disputed Kashmir region, where tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours have surged in recent months.
“Seven (Pakistani) soldiers embraced shahadat (martyrdom) at the Line of Control (LoC) in Bhimber sector in a crossfire LOC violation by Indian troops late last night,” the military said in a statement.
Tensions across the long-disputed de facto Himalayan border reached dangerous levels in September, when India blamed Pakistani militants for a raid on an army base that killed 19 soldiers.
India said it had responded by carrying out “surgical strikes” across the heavily militarised border, although Islamabad denies these took place.
There have since been repeated outbreaks of cross-border firing, with both sides reporting deaths and injuries including of many civilians, though the deaths of seven soldiers in what appeared to be one incident is unusually high.