Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers patrol along the border fence at the Suchategarh border of Ranbir Singh Pura sector, about 27 kilometers from Jammu, the winter capital of Kashmir, India on January 10, 2013.
The Indian military says one of its soldiers has been killed in what it calls an unprovoked firing from across the Line of Control (LoC) in Indian-administrated Kashmir.
Indian army spokesman S.N. Acharya said on Friday that it was not yet clear whether the soldier was killed by Pakistani troops or Kashmiri militants who were trying to cross the LoC — the de facto border that divides Kashmir between Pakistan and India.
He added that the attackers used small arms and fired grenades into an Indian army bunker in the Poonch sector, about 180 kilometers (110 miles) southwest of Srinagar, leaving the soldier dead.
However, another Indian army official blamed Pakistani troops for the killing.
“Junior Commanding Officer Bachan Singh was killed when Pakistani snipers fired at an Indian post near Mandi in the Poonch sector,” the army official said.
The Pakistani military responded to the accusation, saying that none of its soldiers had fired across the LoC on Indian positions.
Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 65 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full but each only has control over a section of the territory.
Over the past two decades, the conflict in Kashmir has left over 47,000 people dead by the official count, although other sources say the death toll could be as high as 100,000.
GJH/MHB
This article originally appeared on: Press TV