KARACHI: At least one person was killed and 12 others were injured on Tuesday in fighting along the disputed and working border between India and Pakistan.

Earlier on Monday, nine civilians were killed and at least 25 wounded in fighting along a stretch of the disputed border between India and Pakistan in the Kashmir region.

Take a look: India, Pakistan skirmish at LoC kills 9 civilians

Speaking to Dawn, a Chenab Rangers spokesperson confirmed that on the Pakistan side, one person was killed and nine others were injured when Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) personnel resorted to unprovoked firing and mortar shelling today. He added that heavy weaponry was used in the attack on the Sialkot working boundary.

Details of women injured in Gandiyar:

• Kulsoom
• Nargis
• Humara
• Khursheed

Details of women and a girl injured in Rangore:

• Six-year-old Simya
• Fiza
• Shameem
• Beeera

Details of one male killed and one male injured in Baghari

• Mustansir
• Aslam (dead)

Speaking on DawnNews today, defence and security analyst Talat Masood said, "The policy being pursued by the BJP led government with regards to Kashmir is very tough. They do not want to engage in dialogue at all it seems."

India reports three wounded

Pakistani Rangers targeted 40 border out posts and 25 border hamlets by resorting to heavy mortar shelling and firing along the International Border in Jammu and Samba districts of Jammu and Kashmir, leaving three people injured, said a report published in The Times of India.

"Pakistani Rangers again resorted to unprovoked mortar shelling and heavy firing on BSF posts along the International Border (IB) since 2100 hours last night," Border Security Force (BSF) spokesman Vinood Yadav said on Tuesday.

FO lodges protest with India

The Foreign Ministry on Monday said it had lodged a protest with Indian diplomats over the killings of its civilians.

The ministry said the firing was “in complete disregard” of the Muslim Eidul Azha festival being celebrated.

Pakistan urges India to announce ceasefire

Pakistan says that unfortunately all its efforts to secure peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control and the Work Boundary have elicited no cooperation from the Indian side.

"We call upon Indian government to immediately announce a ceasefire and help us preserve tranquillity," Adviser to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz said in a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

"UNMOGIP must also be enabled to play its due role in monitoring ceasefire to secure peace and tranquillity on the Line of Control and Working Boundary,” Aziz remarked.

Kashmiris flee India-Pakistan violence

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of villagers fled their homes in Kashmir, as Indian and Pakistani troops bombarded each other with gunfire and mortar shells.

Two of the three wars between the nations have been fought over their competing claims to Kashmir, though the 2003 cease-fire has largely held despite small but regular skirmishes.

Both sides said the violence was happening at several points along the border, including the designated frontier dividing Pakistan from the Indian-held Kashmir region of Jammu, as well as the UN-monitored line of control that slices through the mountainous region and divides it into an Indian-held portion and a Pakistan-administered territory.

“First we heard gunshots,” said Akshit Kumar, a resident of Arnia, a town in Indian-held Kashmir. “But as the shelling started, that's when we decided to flee."

On the Indian side, officials were evacuating tens of thousands of people from Arnia and nearby villages to underground bunkers and government shelters.

A man said he was sleeping on the lawn outside his home on the outskirts of Arnia when a mortar shell landed and exploded at a nearby house, killing his neighbour and wounding five other people. “There is panic,” said Jammu's top administrator, Shantmanu, who goes by one name.

“We're trying to give them a sense of security and temporary shelters."

Many saw the chaos as part of what's become a predictable cycle of violence in a region riven by decades-old animosities.

A similar outburst of cross-border violence in August led about 15,000 villagers to flee temporarily.

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the US was concerned about violence along the line of control. “We continue to encourage the governments of India and Pakistan to engage in further dialogue to address these issues,” she told reporters Monday.

Background

In December last year, Pakistan and India had pledged to uphold the 2003 LoC ceasefire accord which had been left in tatters by repeated violations that year. The truce breaches had put the nascent bilateral peace dialogue on hold.

The directors general of military operations (DGMOs) of the two countries had agreed to a number of steps to keep the ceasefire accord intact.

The meeting had taken place on the initiative of the political leadership of the two countries for ending tensions along the LoC.

The Himalayan territory of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan by the UN-monitored de facto border of LoC but is claimed in full by both the countries.

Ceasefire violations along the LoC and working boundary between Pakistan and India continue intermittently, with casualties reported on both sides.