New Delhi - Fifteen Muslim militants, two policemen and a civilian were killed in Indian Kashmir, police said yesterday. Soldiers and police shot dead eight militants, most of them Pakistanis, in three separate incidents in the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.
Meanwhile, artillery duels erupted again between India and Pakistan in northern Kashmir state after the two nuclear rivals failed in resolving their 54-year dispute over the divided territory at a peace summit last month, reports Raul Bedi.
Indian army officials said Pakistan fired more than 3,400 shells over the past week across the line of control that divides Kashmir between the neighbours, six months after the two sides declared a ceasefire along the frontier in an effort to resolve their differences.
India has not responded to this latest shelling. "Pakistan's obvious objective is to generate an escalation in hostilities," Lieut Gen Arjun Ray, the local army commander said. Gen Ray said if his troops suffered casualties he would respond in an "appropriate fashion". If civilian areas are hit, he added, the army will ensure that Pakistan suffers the consequences.