Indian and Pakistani troops exchange fire as UN calls for calm over Kashmir attack

Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire yesterday morning across the line of control in disputed Kashmir, officials have said, after the UN urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show "maximum restraint" following Tuesday's massacre of Indian tourists by Islamic militants.

- Penelope McRae and Aakash Hassan Delhi Peter Beaumont

Relations have plunged to their lowest level in years, with India accusing Pakistan of supporting "cross-border terrorism" after gunmen carried out the worst attack on civilians in contested Muslim-majority Kashmir for 25 years.

The brief exchange of small-arms fire came as police in Kashmir said they had identified three suspected attackers affiliated with the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba they say were involved in Tuesday's massacre of Indian tourists and released their sketches, announcing a bounty of 2m rupees (£17,500) on the three.

Syed Ashfaq Gilani, a government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told Agence France-Presse yesterday that troops had exchanged fire along the line of control that separates the two countries.

"There is post-to-post firing in Leepa valley overnight. There is no firing on the civilian population. Life is normal. Schools are open," Gilani, a senior government official in the Jhelum valley district, said yesterday.