Conflicting claims about stray rockets

New Delhi/Islamabad: The government on Saturday said three rockets that hit border areas of Punjab on Friday night had originated in Pakistan, but officials in Islamabad blamed India for the attacks. No one was injured in the blasts.

The rockets struck near the border villages of Dhoni Khurd and Modey in Punjab, said Himmat Singh, an inspector general of the Border Security Force.

While incidents involving the exchange of fire between troops on opposite sides of the border are quite common in Kashmir, they are something of a rarity along the frontier in Punjab. Still, there was no sign the incident would spark any major diplomatic tensions.

Singh said it was not immediately clear who had fired the rockets but insisted they had been launched from the other side of the border. Indian soldiers had returned fire after the incident, he added. "We have lodged a protest with the Pakistan Rangers and are trying to ascertain who is responsible for the rocket attacks," he told reporters yesterday.

Nadeem Raza, spokesman for the Pakistan Rangers (Punjab), said the paramilitary force's commander had held talks with his Indian counterpart to discuss the incident. He denied that the rockets were fired from Pakistan, but said an investigation was underway.

"We are confident that the rockets were fired from India and they landed on the Indian side," Raza said.

The rockets fell in empty fields and did not cause any damage.

The Indian army had earlier this month accused Pakistan of firing across the border into Kashmir in an incident that killed an Indian soldier.

Brigadier Gopala Krishnan Murali, a senior army officer, could not say whether the Indian post was targeted by the Pakistan army or suspected Islamist insurgents inside Pakistani territory.

The rockets were fired just hours after the Border Security Force stationed its first batch of women troopers along the international border on Friday.