Two Indian Army personnel were killed on Friday after Pakistan resorted to cross-border shelling along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district.

In a statement, the Army said that Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri and Sukhbir Singh were injured in the incident and died later. “Naik Prem Bahadur Khatri and Rifleman Sukhbir Singh were brave, highly motivated and sincere soldiers,” the statement read. “The nation will always remain indebted to them for their supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty.”

The Army said that it responded quickly to the unprovoked firing in Rajouri’s Sunderbani sector from across the border.

Tensions between India and Pakistan flared up after 11 people, including six civilians, four Indian Army soldiers and a Border Security Force sub inspector, were killed on November 13 amid cross-border shelling along the Line of Control. The Indian Army accused Islamabad for “initiating unprovoked ceasefire violation” in the region.

Pakistan, in turn, accused India of sponsoring “terrorism” aimed at destabilising the country. It claimed it had proof to back its claims. India dismissed the allegations as “fabricated” and “figments of imagination”.

On November 21, another Indian Army jawan was killed in an alleged ceasefire violation by Pakistan in the Rajouri district.

There has been a significant rise in ceasefire violations by Pakistan this year. According to official data, Pakistan has resorted to 4,052 incidents of ceasefire violations in the current year as against 3,233 in 2019, PTI reported.