UPDATE - 3 killed in Jammu Kashmir cross-border clash

UPDATE WITH DEATH TOLL FROM PAKISTAN

By Zahid Rafiq and Amir Latif

SRINAGAR, Jammu Kashmir/ KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Three children were killed and at least eight other civilians were wounded in a cross-border fire in Jammu Kashmir, the Indian army said on Monday.

According to an Indian official in the disputed Kashmir, Pakistani troops fired ‘bullets and mortal shells’ at border villages and forward posts along the defacto border in Poonch district.

"The firing from the Pakistan side began at 0650 IST (0120 GMT) hours and our [Indian] forces gave a befitting reply. Exchange of gunfire is ongoing," a spokesman of the Indian army told Anadolu Agency.

The dead children included 10 and 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old girl, he said.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Monday accused Indian border forces of targeting civilian population along the disputed Kashmir border, which killed one civilian and injured another four.

According to Pakistan Army’s media wing, Inter-services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan Army responded to Indian firing “befittingly”, and targeted two posts.

The border forces of the two countries have been regularly violating the cease-fire agreement that had arrived at in 2003.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

The two countries have fought three wars -- in 1948, 1965 and 1971 -- since they were partitioned in 1947, two of which were fought over Kashmir.

Also in Siachen glacier in northern Kashmir, Indian and Pakistani troops have fought intermittently since 1984. A cease-fire came into effect in 2003.

Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu-Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence, or for unification with neighboring Pakistan.

More than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict since 1989. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.