Pak forces kill five Indian soldiers in tit-for-tat response at LoC

KARACHI: Pakistan's armed forces have targeted outposts of Indian army along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary, killing at least five enemy soldiers , sources said on Wednesday.

"Pakistani forces gave befitting response to unprovoked Indian fire along the LoC. Five Indian soldiers are confirmed dead," said the sources.

The sources said four Indian posts were destroyed on Tuesday in Pakistani shelling at the Bhimbar Sector.

Earlier in the day, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said two civilians were killed and eight others injured as Indian forces resorted to unprovoked fire along the Line of Control (LoC)  in Chaprar Sector.

Tensions between the two countries have been strained since July, when Indian forces killed a young Kashmiri fighter, prompting mass protests in Indian-administered Kashmir. The resulting crackdown by security forces has seen at least 80 Kashmiri protesters killed.

Relations plummeted even further in September, when gunmen stormed an Indian military base in Uri, killing 18 Indian soldiers, the largest such attack in 14 years.

India blamed Pakistan for the attack, and in response said it had launched "surgical strikes" across the de facto border in Kashmir on Sept 29 to target Kashmiri fighters based there. Pakistan denied any incursion had occurred on its territory.