NEW DELHI: Pakistan's military and police say "unprovoked firing" by India across the heavily militarized Line of Control in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir has killed three soldiers and two civilians in separate incidents.
The military said in a statement Thursday that Pakistani troops returned fire, killing five Indian soldiers and damaging Indian bunkers.
The police and military said three Pakistani soldiers were killed when Indian troops targeted their post in Leepa town along the Line of Control, and two civilians died when mortars fired by India hit a village in Poonch town.
They were the first reported clashes between Pakistan and India since New Delhi changed the status of Indian-administered Kashmir, increasing tension between the two South Asian nuclear-armed rivals.
The military said the two sides were still exchanging fire, prompting villagers to move to safer places.
There was no way to independently confirm the claims. Pakistan and India routinely accuse each other of unprovoked firing in the disputed region.