Pakistani civilian dies in Indian border skirmish: Officials

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani officials on Sunday accused Indian troops of killing a civilian and wounding four others in "unprovoked firing" across the border in its eastern province of Punjab.

India and Pakistan often accuse each other of violating a 2003 ceasefire agreement. The two countries have fought three wars, two of them over the divided and disputed Kashmir region.

Pakistani officials said the latest firing came from an area in the south of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, facing the Pakistani district of Sialkot.

"A civilian embraced martyrdom and four others were wounded when Indian Border Security Force (BSF) resorted to unprovoked firing in Charwa and Harpal sectors overnight and today," a senior military official told AFP.

"Pakistan Rangers effectively responded to Indian BSF fire" near Sialkot, the official said on condition of anonymity.

Earlier this month Indian police accused the Pakistani army of killing a soldier and injuring seven other people during firing along the border in the same region.

The Muslim-majority Himalayan region of Kashmir is divided and administered separately by India and Pakistan but claimed by both in full.

About a dozen rebel groups who want Kashmir to become independent or incorporated into Pakistan have been fighting Indian forces since 1989.

The fighting has left tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, dead.

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