The Indian Army on Thursday said that Pakistani troops have been firing artillery guns and other weapons across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir and that it had begun retaliating, India Today reported.

Earlier in the day the Army had said that three soldiers were killed and five injured in two separate incidents of heavy shelling along the LoC.

A defense spokesperson said that two soldiers were killed and four were injured when Pakistan fired mortars in Kupwara district’s Nowgam sector. The injured persons were being evacuated, the spokesperson added.

Another soldier was killed and one more injured in cross-firing along the Line of Control in Poonch district on Wednesday night, according to Greater Kashmir. It is not clear if Pakistan suffered any casualties. The deceased, Karnail Singh, succumbed to his injuries after being brought back to battalion headquarters, an officer said.

Over 3,000 ceasefire violations by Pakistan have been reported in eight months, the highest in 17 years. Since January 1, 2018, Pakistan has violated ceasefire agreements over 8,500 times in Jammu and Kashmir, a Right to Information reply from the Union Ministry of Home Affairs said.

In 2003, India and Pakistan had agreed on ceasefire along the Line Of Control.

Ceasefire violations

On September 15, Pakistani troops fired with small arms and shelled mortars along the Line of Control in Rajouri district, killing an Indian soldier and wounding two, including an officer. The injured soldiers were admitted to a military hospital.

An Indian Army officer was killed on September 2 at Keri area of the Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district in alleged ceasefire violations along the Line of Control on August 30. Another army soldier was killed in firing by Pakistani forces along the Line of Control in Rajouri district on July 31.

Earlier this month, a 60-year-old woman was killed and another was critically injured in cross-border firing in Poonch. In June, a soldier was killed as Pakistani troops fired at forward posts along the Line of Control in Rajouri.