Six killed as Indian, Pakistan soldiers trade fire in Kashmir

Four Pakistani soldiers, one Indian soldier and a child were killed Monday as Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire across a cease-fire line dividing the troubled Kashmir region between the two countries. Indian army spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said Pakistani troops fired mortar shells and automatic weapons into the Rajouri sector of Indian-controlled Kashmir on Monday morning. A mortar shell landed on a bunker, wounding a soldier who later died at a hospital, he said. In Islamabad, the director general of military operations, Maj Gen Sahir Shamshad Mirza, accused Indian soldiers of attacking a Pakistani army vehicle, killing four soldiers. Three civilians, two on the Indian side and one on the Pakistani-controlled part of the Himalayan region, were also reported injured. Recent violence in the region has affected at least 5,000 civilians on the Indian side who have homes in the area. The two armies often blame each other for initiating firing across the cease-fire line.