Cross-border firing continued for the third day Wednesday in Kashmir, with India accusing Pakistan of launching an assault as cover for the infiltration of Islamic rebels.
Military officials here said three civilians, including a woman, were injured overnight by exploding mortar shells in the areas of Palanwalan and Nowshera northwest of Indian Kashmir's winter capital of Jammu.
Army spokesman Major Sanjay Khanna in Jammu said at least 1,800 mortar shells had pounded Palanwalan and Nowshera sectors since cross-border artillery duels escalated Monday.
Indian troops in the divided territory have also opened fire to silence the enemy guns, he said.
In New Delhi, a defence ministry spokesman accused Pakistan of starting the cross-border attacks.
"It is an old ploy. They (Pakistan) open fire on one sector and then infiltrate terrorists at another sector. The firing is also a cover for the militants to enter in Kashmir," the spokesman said.
He said the cross-border firing did not involve high-calibre artillery. "Ninety-nine percent of the shells are mortar."
"We are only retaliating to ensure that their guns are silenced" along the Line of Control that divides the Indian and Pakistani zones, the spokesman said.
India, which controls the southern two-thirds of Kashmir, accuses Pakistan of arming and training separatist rebels, a charge Islamabad denies.
The Muslim separatist campaign in the Indian part of Kashmir has claimed some 34,000 lives since 1989.
The two countries have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir since 1947.
The two South Asian adversaries came dangerously close to a fourth war last summer when India launched a full-scale military offensive to evict Pakistani-backed forces from the Kargil peaks of Kashmir -- JAMMU, India (AFP)
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