Daily Times

Tensions soared Wednesday along the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan in the Himalayan region of Kashmir, as rival soldiers shelled dozens of villages and border posts for a sixth straight day.

Officials from the two countries said a total of five civilians and a soldier were killed on both sides, taking the death toll in the six-day confrontation to 16.

The clashes erupted after the Indian forces martyred four members of the same family along the Working Boundary near Sialkot on Friday.

In Pakistan, two security officials said Pakistani and Indian troops exchanged fire near Sialkot city in Punjab. They said the two sides traded fire over the past 48 hours, killing a civilian and a soldier.

The officials said several people were also wounded, including three border guards. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Indian police said Pakistani soldiers continued targeting dozens of Indian border posts and villages with mortars and automatic gunfire in the Jammu region. At least four civilians were killed and 30 others injured on the Indian side, said a top police officer, SD Singh.

As in the past, each country accused the other of initiating the latest border skirmishes and violating the 2003 ceasefire agreement.

Wednesday’s fighting follows days of confrontations that left four civilians on each side and an Indian soldier dead.

The fighting has sent tens of thousands of villagers fleeing from their homes in dozens of affected villages along the LoC and the Working Boundary to government buildings converted into temporary shelters or to the houses of friends and relatives living in safer places.

Dozens of schools have been closed and authorities advised residents to stay indoors as shells and bullets rained down.

The Indian and Pakistan militaries held talks this week but failed to calm one of the deadliest flare-ups this year.

An Indian police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, described the flare-up as a ‘war-like situation’ in the affected districts of Samba, RS Pura, Akhnoor and Arnia.

Pakistan Rangers and Indian Border Security Force officers spoke by telephone on Monday.

On Friday, Pakistan summoned the Indian high commissioner to lodge a strong protest over the latest ceasefire violations by Indian forces near Sialkot.

The Indian forces, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, targeted the civilian population. The firing prompted strong response from the Punjab Rangers, that targeted the posts where the fire was coming from.

Within hours of the latest border clashes, the Indian high commissioner was called to the Foreign Office by the acting foreign secretary.

Usually, Pakistan summons the deputy high commissioner. However, this time the Indian envoy was called in because of the severity of the ceasefire violation.

Published in Daily Times, May 24^th 2018.