Pakistan army kills '5 Indian soldiers' in border clash

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Five Indian soldiers were killed during a clash along the Line of Control (LoC) -- a de facto border region that divides the disputed Kashmir valley between the two nuclear-armed countries -- on Saturday, according to the Pakistani army.

The Indian military has so far not commented on the latest clash that is said to have taken place at Tattapani sector along the LoC.

In a statement, Pakistani army also said several Indian bunkers had been also destroyed in the clash.

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by India and Pakistan in parts and claimed by both in full.

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.

Since 1989, Kashmiri resistance groups in Jammu and 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 so far, most of them by the Indian armed forces. India maintains more than half a million troops in the disputed region.