(8 Oct 2014) Troops have traded heavy fire between Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least four civilians and worsening tensions between the long-time rivals, officials on both sides said on Wednesday.
The fire exchanges - which Indian officials called the worst violation of a 2003 ceasefire - also wounded 18 civilians on the Indian side and another three on the Pakistani side.
The violence has spread since Sunday night along the 200-kilometre (125-mile) border between Pakistan's Punjab province and the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir.
That lower-altitude border, guarded by paramilitary border forces, is lined on both sides by ancient villages and agricultural fields.
Skirmishes also took place farther north, where Pakistan controls a part of Kashmir marked by a United Nations-monitored Line of Control, but no casualties were reported there.
In total, nine civilians on the Pakistani side and seven on the Indian have been killed in the last three nights of fighting, officials said.
Tens of thousands have fled homes on both sides of the border.
Indian authorities moved to government shelters another five-thousand people late on Tuesday in the worst-hit Samba sector, police said, adding that 12-thousand villagers had been evacuated since Monday.
The UN Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan plans to visit the area, the Pakistani military said on Tuesday after lodging a protest with the group alleging that Indian troops had fired first.
India has also accused Pakistan of starting this week's skirmishes, saying it wants to create a distraction to help separatist militants infiltrate into Indian-controlled Kashmir.
Pakistan has repeatedly denied this.
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