Pakistan summons Indian envoy over second killing

Pakistan summoned the Indian ambassador to Islamabad on Friday to protest against the death of another Pakistani soldier in what it said was a second cross-border attack from Indian troops in Kashmir. Pakistan said the soldier was killed on Thursday.

It was the third deadly incident and fourth death reported in five days in the disputed Himalayan region, which is claimed in full by both India and Pakistan but ruled in part by each. “We have summoned the Indian high commissioner to the foreign office to protest the firing incident at the LOC (Line of Control).

He is here and meeting with the secretary of foreign affairs at the moment,” foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmed Khan told AFP.

Pakistan said the soldier died as a result of “unprovoked” fire from India. An Indian army spokesman said Pakistan opened fire and Indian soldiers retaliated. The United States has urged the nuclear-armed rivals to cool tensions along the heavily militarised Line of Control. On Tuesday India said two of its soldiers were killed by Pakistani troops and one of them was beheaded. Pakistan denied any responsibility. On Sunday the Pakistani army accused India of killing one of its soldiers and wounding another in a cross-border attack.

India said its troops had opened fire following a Pakistani mortar attack, but denied they crossed the border. Kashmir, a Muslim-majority territory, has been the cause of two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947. A ceasefire has been in force along the Line of Control since 2003 despite sporadic violations on both sides.

Despite the recent killings, both countries have appeared determined to prevent the violence from wrecking a fragile peace process, which resumed in 2011.