Shelling across Pakistan-India border kills three

Pakistani troops kill three civilians, including a child and a woman, and wound five

Flames and smoke billows from residential building where militants are suspected to have taken refuge during a gun battle in Pulwama, south of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, Monday, Feb. 18, 2019. Tensions continued to rise in the aftermath of a suicide attack in disputed Kashmir, with seven people killed Monday in a gunbattle that broke out as Indian soldiers scoured the area for militants. (AP Photo/ Dar Yasin)
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Shelling across the border in Kashmir killed three Indian civilians and wounded two Pakistanis, military officials said on Sunday.

Indian and Pakistani troops fired shells along the de facto border known as the Line of Control, which divides the disputed Kashmir region.

The sporadic exchanges began on Saturday and continued into Sunday.

Both countries claim the region in full but rule only parts, and often accuse each other of breaching a 2003 ceasefire pact by shelling and firing across the border.

Pakistani troops fired at civilians living near the line, killing a man, a woman and a child, and wounding five, Kashmir police chief Vijay Kumar said.

Pakistan blames Indian troops for ceasefire breaches and aiming at civilians in Kashmir.

Two Pakistani civilians were injured by shelling from India, Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar, spokesman for the Pakistan Army, said in a tweet.

Tension between the two countries was renewed when New Delhi withdrew the autonomy of the Kashmir region in 2019 and split it into territories federally administered by India.

Until then, it had had autonomy over all matters except defence, communications and foreign affairs.

India accuses its neighbour of training and sending militants across the border to attack, and to support a separatist movement against Indian rule.

Pakistan denies giving material support to militants in Kashmir but says it provides moral and diplomatic backing for the self-determination of Kashmiri people.