Armies exchange fire in Kashmir

NEW DELHI: Troops from Pakistan and India exchanged fire overnight across the Line of Control in disputed Kashmir, officials said yesterday, after the UN urged the nuclear-armed rivals to show “maximum restraint” following a deadly shooting in the region.

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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 a quarter of a century.

Syed Ashfaq Gilani, a government official in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, told AFP yesterday that troops exchanged fire along the Line of Control that separates the two countries. “There was no firing on the civilian population,” he added.

India’s army confirmed there had been limited firing of small arms that it said had been “initiated by Pakistan”, adding it had been “effectively responded to”.

On Thursday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that issues between the countries “can be and should be resolved peacefully through meaningful mutual engagement.

“We very much appeal to both the governments... to exercise maximum restraint, and to ensure that the situation and the developments we've seen do not deteriorate any further,” he said.

Indian Premier Narendra Modi has vowed to hunt down the gunmen responsible for killing 26 civilians at the popular tourist site of Pahalgam, after Indian police identified two of the three fugitive gunmen as Pakistani.