Islamabad and New Delhi engage in two days of clasehes along the international border and the Line of Control (LoC). At least 30 people injured on Indian side, with five victims. Four dead, on Pakistani side.

Srinagar (AsiaNews / Agencies) -  The clashes along the Kashmir border between the Indian and Pakistani military show no signs of calming: after the nine civilians killed yesterday - five Indians, four Pakistanis - and more than 30 injured this morning seven other people were injured in 'explosion of bombs and rockets fired by the Islamabad troops. It is the most serious violation of the cease-fire this year.

Since October 3 - after a lull of about a month - Pakistan began to violate the truce that exists in the area, targeting the civilian population living on the Indian side, along the international border and the Line control (LoC). The LoC divides the areas controlled by New Delhi from those controlled by Pakistan, and is governed by a cease-fire, in theory.

Yesterday had the highest body count in a single day for decades. The Pakistani soldiers targeted over 40 positions in Apiary, RS Pura, Kanachak and Pargwal. New Delhi's Border Security Force (BSF), a special security team, has vowed to "respond effectively", without any mention of seeking an agreement with Pakistan to ease tension.

According to Omar Abdullah, chief minister of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, the violation of the cease-fire by the Pakistan shows its "desperation" at not being able to "internationalize the Kashmir issue" during the last General Assembly of 'UN.

The Muslim majority Himalayan region of Kashmir, has been claimed in its entirety by both India and Pakistan, for over 60 years. In 1949 - at the end of the first Indo-Pakistani conflict - the territory was divided: New Delhi took Jammu and Kashmir (which became a special status state, ed), the Islamabad took the Northern Territory and Azad Kashmir. A division that has not stopped the tensions, setting the two nations into a spiral of "war" without end.

 

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