LoC clash breaks lull in nascent ceasefire

SRINAGAR: India and Pakistan exchanged fire along the Working Boundary on Sunday, officials said, killing two guards and ending a days-old agreement to honour a ceasefire in the disputed region.

India claimed seven civilians were also injured at Aknoor in a barrage that killed two Indian border officers.

"The injured soldiers were immediately evacuated to a military hospital where they later succumbed (to their injuries)," border force spokesman Manoj Yadav told AFP from Jammu.



Pakistan authorities did not immediately comment on India's allegations or whether any damage was sustained on their side of the border.

The salvo of gun and mortar fire came just four days after Pakistan and India promised to end ceasefire violations in Kashmir.

The two sides had pledged to respect the conditions laid out in a 2003 ceasefire ‘in letter and spirit’.



Both sides blame each other for violating the 15-year ceasefire.

Dozens have been killed in border clashes in recent months along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, leaving residents terrified on both sides.

The renewed commitment to the ceasefire had encouraged thousands of civilians to return to their homes after weeks of shelling.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2018.