INDIA ON ALERT FOR PAKISTAN REPRISAL

Deadly exchanges escalate on disputed border

- BY CHRIS HUGHES Defence and Security Editor

INDIA and Pakistan clashed in more deadly border exchanges yesterday as tensions soared between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Four Pakistani soldiers were wounded and a civilian killed in Indian drone strikes, hours after Pakistani troops shelled Indian villages.

Residents in India-controlled Kashmir also reported explosions from suspected drones in the city of Jammu.

It came a day after missiles hit several locations in Pakistan killing 31 civilians, according to Islamabad officials.

India was last night braced for further escalation as Pakistani Information Minister Attau-llah Tarar told parliament they had yet to respond to India's missile attacks.

New Delhi said the salvo was retaliation for gunmen killing more than two dozen people, mostly Hindu tourists, in India-controlled Kashmir last month.

Some were shot in the head in front of horror-struck spouses.