Indian and Pakistani forces traded fierce artillery fire in the disputed Kashmir region for a fourth day yesterday, pushing the death toll from the fighting to 80.
Villagers who fled their homes along the Indian-held side of the frontier described the fighting as all-out war, saying the sky was lit up with tracer bullets and artillery flashes overnight.
An official statement yesterday said "three more persons, including two women, were killed in Uri", about 100 km north of the Indian town of Srinagar "due to shelling by Pakistani troops. Thirteen houses were damaged". Indian officials said at least 32 people had died in Indian territory since Thursday.
An Indian air force official said in Srinagar: "We are ready for any eventuality and are on total alert. However, I do not foresee a war breaking out."
Pakistani officials meanwhile said 48 people had been killed, three yesterday, in their part of the territory and accused India of deliberately targeting civilians.
On Saturday Islamabad accused Indian troops of violating Kashmir's line of control, the de-facto border between the two armies, and said Indian fighter planes had invaded Pakistani air space. India denied there had been violations.
New Delhi also accuses Islamabad of fuelling a long-running and bloody rebellion against Indian rule in the southern part of the state. Pakistan denies the charge.
Both sides have accused each other of triggering the fighting, which erupted last week as the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, held talks in Sri Lanka.
The prime ministerial meeting was intended to defuse tense relations following the two countries' nuclear weapons tests in May, but the talks were locked in stalemate over Kashmir.
Yesterday the chief minister of the Indian zone of Kashmir, Mr Farooq Abdullah, condemned Pakistan for targeting "innocent people".
"We can't remain mute spectators while they continue to shed the blood of our people," an official spokesman quoted Mr Abdullah as saying, while urging New Delhi to step up the military offensive.
India and Pakistan have fought two wars over Kashmir since their independence in 1947, and the long-running dispute regularly erupts into skirmishing in the area.
Islamabad favours outside mediation and a referendum in the Muslim-majority state to decide its future. India insists there is no room for third-party involvement.
The US has been leading international calls for the dispute to be solved as a matter of urgency following the nuclear tests, which raised tension to boiling point between the two countries.