NEW DELHI, Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Nine civilian were killed and at least 25 injured in shelling Monday on the disputed India-Pakistan border, both countries acknowledged.
The village of Arnia, in India, two miles from the border, was heavily shelled, and five people were killed, said police chief Devender Singh. The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced four people died in the Pakistani villages of Dharmala and Tulispur, noting "unprovoked firing" and a violation of a cease-fire by the Indian military. Each side blamed the other for initiating the attack.
A statement from the Indian Army said "Pakistan must realize that the kind of environment it is generating between the two countries is certainly not going to help in normalizing the relations. The onus of creating a positive environment is on Pakistan, which is utterly failing to do so."
The toll of fighting in the disputed Kashmir region was the heaviest since India cancelled peace talks in September.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars over the disputed border, although a fragile cease-fire has been in place since 2003, although heavy exchanges of gunfire have occurred since August.
