ISLAMABAD, March 21 Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) in Pando sector, near Chakothi, on Friday night, military sources said.

“It was a small arms fire which was instantly responded to by Pakistan Army by returning fire in Uri sector,” the sources told Dawn.

They said a protest had been lodged with India at sector commanders' level. The unprovoked firing continued for hours, but there was no loss of life.

The army rejected as baseless an Indian allegation that Pakistan was the first to fire at Indian army positions across the LoC.

It was the first incident of its kind after the violation of Pakistan's airspace by Indian planes in the aftermath of the Mumbai carnage.

Agencies add “The firing started from the Indian side at around 10 pm (on Friday) and intermittent firing continued for several hours,” a Pakistan military official said.

The Indian army claimed that an Indian soldier was injured on Saturday when Pakistani troops fired at Indian army positions across the LoC.

The firing lasted five hours, ending on Saturday morning, the spokesman said.