An Indian soldier and a young girl were killed Monday during a skirmish at the Line of Control, officials said, just a day after four Pakistani soldiers were killed in a similar exchange. Army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia said a soldier died when a mortar fired from Azad Kashmir landed on a bunker, sparking fierce retaliatory fire.
A police officer, who asked to remain anonymous, said an eight-year-old girl was also killed in an exchange of fire across the Line of Control, and her mother was seriously injured. The tit-for-tat exchange came after India justified firing a barrage that saw four Pakistani soldiers killed Sunday, saying it had the right to retaliate over "ceasefire violations" in the Kashmir region.