Pakistan soldiers killed in border shootings- India

Seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in retaliatory fire by Indian forces along the disputed Kashmir border, according to Indian officials, but Pakistan refuted those claims.

India's Border Security Force (BSF) said Pakistan Rangers targeted Indian positions with sniper fire early on Friday, following a failed overnight attempt by fighters to cross the border near the main city of Jammu in Indian-administered Kashmir. 

"During intermittent firing of small arms and area weapons, one militant and seven Rangers were shot dead," the BSF said in a press statement.

Its spokesman Shubhendu Bhardwaj told AFP news agency that troops launched an "aggressive offensive" after one of their soldiers was critically wounded by sniper fire from across the border. 

"There was an infiltration attempt and sniper fire. We retaliated. The bodies are on the other side of the border," said Bhardwaj.

However, Lieutenant-General Asim Bajwa, a Pakistani army spokesman, refuted the claim and accused India of unprovoked shooting across the Line of Control, the de factor border.

Both India and Pakistan claim the disputed Himalayan region in full, but govern over separate parts of it, divided by the heavily militarised LoC.

Source: Aje