India alleges Pakistani forces violate ceasefire along border

Oct 28, 2008, 8:59 GMT

New Delhi - Pakistani troops fired at Indian forward positions along a de facto border between the two countries in Jammu and Kashmir state, a news report said Tuesday.

The Pakistani troops fired rockets, mortars and small arms in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Poonch region late Monday night, a senior Indian army officer told the PTI news agency.

Around 10 shells were fired during a half-hour period, but did not cause any damage or casualties to Indian troops, the officer said.

India's Border Security Force did not retaliate, he said.

The LoC is a de facto border dividing the disputed Kashmir region into two parts, one administered by India and the other by Pakistan.

Nuclear-capable South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir.

More than 40,000 people have been killed in a violent separatist militant movement in India-administered Kashmir since the late 1980s.

India accuses Pakistan of aiding Kashmiri militants, a charge Islamabad denies, calling them freedom fighters.

The two countries are currently engaged in a dialogue to resolve differences, including those over Kashmir. They entered a ceasefire agreement on the line of control in Kashmir in November 2003.

But there have been several shooting incidents over the past few months, with Indian Army officials claiming there have been 35 violations of the ceasefire by Pakistani troops since January 2008.

Monday night's alleged breach came less than a fortnight after the two countries agreed to refrain from cross-border shooting along the border.

Officials from the Pakistan Rangers and the Border Security Force met in Lahore on October 16 and decided to honour a 4-year-old ceasefire.

Indian officials say the ceasefire violations and firing by Pakistan are aimed to provide cover for militants to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir to target assembly elections due to begin from November 17.

Over 132 infiltration attempts have been reported in the last nine months from across the LoC, in which 80 militants have been killed, the PTI reported.

The Indian army has strengthened security along the border after intelligence said several groups of militants were waiting to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir.