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MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (AP) — Indian troops fired at Pakistani forces across the two countries' line of control in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir on Monday, killing a woman and wounding nine civilians, Pakistani officials and the military said.
Among the wounded were two women and three children.
The military said Pakistan troops "responded effectively" and targeted Indian posts from where the civilians were attacked. It also released photographs of bloodied and wounded children being treated at a local hospital.
Raja Shahid, a deputy commissioner in Pakistan's part of Kashmir, blamed India for initiating the fire and described it as a cease-fire violation. The two sides exchanged gunfire for several hours, he said later Monday.
However, the Indian military denied the incident, instead alleging that its troops early on Sunday foiled an attack by intruders from Pakistani-controlled Kashmir who were "assisted by heavy cover fire" from Pakistani military posts.
The statement said two people were killed and that they were "likely Pakistani soldiers."
Earlier, Bilal Akbar, a local doctor, told reporters that the windows of the town's main hospital were damaged from Monday's Indian gunfire. Pakistani authorities said residents in the border town of Aathmuqam were fleeing to safer places.
Kashmir is split between the two nuclear-armed rivals. Both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two of their three wars over it.
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