Exchange of fire across India-Pakistan border

Handout picture shows British Foreign Secretary David Miliband (R) talking with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting in Karachi on Sunday. Three days of violence has killed 48 political party workers in Pakistan's financial capital, Karachi, a security official said, as Miliband urged an end to violence in the country. Photo: AFP

Pakistani troops shot dead an Indian border guard yesterday during an exchange of fire across the de facto border that splits Kashmir between the two nuclear-armed rivals, Indian officials said.
The incident took place in mountainous Poonch district, about 500km south of Indian Kashmir's summer capital Srinagar.
"The soldier died in firing from across the Line of Control," a Indian Border Security Force spokesman said, referring to the de facto border -- one of the world's most heavily militarised frontiers.
He blamed Pakistani troops for the shooting and termed it as "yet another ceasefire violation by Pakistanis".
Indian troops returned fire, but it was not immediately known if there were any casualties on the Pakistani side of the border.
After noticing some movement near the border in Kanachak sector, about 35 km west of Jammu, a BSF patrol party opened fire in the early hours of Monday. This led to retaliation from the Pakistani side. "We are not sure if the fire that came from Pakistan was by Pakistani Rangers or a group of militants trying to infiltrate into the Indian side," BSF sources said.
Visibility was poor due to fog. However, once daylight broke the BSF personnel found that the barbed wire fence erected on the Indian side to check infiltration from Pakistan 'was cut at two points'.
"Militants were taking advantage of the thick fog along the international border," BSF sources said.
Troops along the Indo-Pak border in Jammu and Kashmir have been put on high alert after reports of an increase in infiltration attempts into the state.
"There are intelligence reports of further increase in the cross-border infiltration attempts from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). Troops have been put on high alert along the Indo-Pak border and have intensified round-the-clock patrolling," security officials said.
According to intelligence received, 1,000 to 1,200 terrorists are staged along the border in launching pads to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir from POK, they said.