Srinagar: An Indian border guard was killed in the troubled Kashmir region by gunfire emanating from Pakistani territory on Tuesday, according to an Indian official.
The firing started as India’s Border Security Force soldiers were returning to camp after patrolling the border between India and Pakistan overnight, said J Oberoi, a top border force official.
Oberoi said an investigation was under way to determine whether the soldier was shot by Pakistani guards or by insurgents trying to sneak into the Indian portion of Kashmir from Pakistani territory.
The shooting took place near the village of Akhnoor, south of Srinagar, the main city of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state.
India often accuses Pakistani soldiers of firing to provide cover for Kashmiri rebels trying to enter the Indian portion of Kashmir to attack Indian targets.
Indian and Pakistani soldiers have been observing a cease-fire in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir since 2003.
Nearly a dozen rebel groups have been fighting for the independence of Kashmir or its merger with neighbouring Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of training and arming the insurgents, a charge Islamabad denies.
More than 68,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the conflict. Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the entire territory.
