At least nine people were killed on Sunday in firing along the de facto India-Pakistan border in Kashmir, officials said, adding to the spike in deaths in recent days as New Delhi eased a curfew in the disputed region, report agencies.
Tensions escalated between the nuclear-armed neighbours after India revoked Kashmir's autonomy on August 5 and imposed movement and communications restrictions to quell unrest.
Officials from the two countries accused each other of firing mortar rounds and small arms along the so-called Line of Control.
"Two soldiers and a civilian were killed and three others injured in the unprovoked fire by Pakistan," Indian Army spokesman Colonel Rajesh Kalia told AFP of the "unprovoked" fire in the mountainous Tangdhar region of Kupwara district.
Several homes were damaged in the attack and three civilians were being treated in a hospital, he added.
Officials in Pakistan-administered Kashmir said six civilians were killed and eight others wounded in Muzaffarabad and Neelum Valley.
"Mortar shells hit civilian houses and have so far martyred five people in Muzzafarabad and wounded six others," said Muzaffarabad deputy commissioner Badar Munir said.
Munir said the dead included three members of one family.
Neelum Valley official Akhtar Ayub said one civilian was killed and two injured.
The shelling came after five people were killed in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday, two days after New Delhi restored mobile phone and text services.
Indian authorities said repeatedly during the lockdown that Kashmir has been mostly peaceful.
Meanwhile, the Indian government decided to call off a proposed visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Turkey's capital Ankara.
This comes as part of a number of measures showing the Indian government's displeasure over Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan's speech at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) last month where he criticised India's move to abrogate Article 370 of the constitution that provided special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Supporting Pakistan, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that it is imperative to solve the problem through "dialogue on the basis of justice, equity, and not through collision."
Erdogan also said the stability and prosperity of South Asia cannot be separated from the Kashmir issue.
Responding to Turkey's statements on Kashmir at the UNGA, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India does not regret the Turkish president's statements onwards on a subject which is internal to India.
"We call upon the Turkey government to get a proper understanding of the situation on the ground before they make any further statements on this issue. It is a matter which is completely internal to India," the MEA spokesperson said.
