3 family members killed in exchange of fire in Kashmir
Srinagar, India, Jul 18 (efe-epa).- Three family members were killed in the early hours of Saturday morning in an exchange of fire between India and Pakistan near ??the Line of Control (LoC) which separates the troubled Kashmir region.
“Three family members got killed in an unprovoked Pakistani firing in Gulpur sector of Poonch, last evening,” superintendent of the district police Ramesh Angral told Efe.
The victims were Mohammad Rafiq, 58, his wife Rafia, 50, and their son Irfan, 15, according to police.
The confrontation occurred along the LoC which is the de-facto border that divides the disputed Kashmir region between India and Pakistan.
Incidents of this type are relatively frequent in the area with New Delhi and Islamabad each blaming the other for previous exchanges of fire.
A ceasefire has been in place along the line since 2003.
An Indian soldier was seriously injured last night in a landmine explosion at another location on the border in the Rajouri district, Colonel Davinder Anand, defense spokesman in Jammu, told Efe.
“The incident took place in the Kalal sector last evening after the soldier unintentionally touched the landmine,” Davinder said.
The soldier was part of an army patrol, he added.
India’s army has planted landmines along the LoC to counter what it describes as “infiltration from across the border”.
