Pak guns cover ultras sneaking into Kashmir

A senior army official said last month that 115 militants had been killed so far this year in 52 intrusions across the ceasefire line and 25 intrusions over the international border.

Indian and Pakistani troops frequently exchange artillery, mortar and small arms fire along the 720-km (450-mile) military line which separates the two nuclear-capable foes.

The defence spokesman said on Tuesday firing had intensified in the past 48 hours when Pakistani troops had fired at civilian areas in the border district of Poonch, killing a woman and injuring three. "Hitherto, the Pakistani army was firing small-calibre weapons, including mortars, in their bid to target Indian army posts in the state."

He said the increase in firing was alarming and could spur an Indian response. "The Indian Army has so far been exercising utmost restraint, but cannot remain a silent spectator to such developments and may have to retaliate suitably," the official said.

Nearly a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state where police and hospitals say more than 30,000 people have been killed in a decade of rebellion.