India-Pakistan gunfire leaves 4 more dead

SRINAGAR, Oct 8 (AP):  Troops traded heavy fire between Pakistan and Indian-controlled Kashmir, killing at least four civilians and worsening tensions between the long-time rivals, officials on both sides said Wednesday.

The fire exchanges -- which Indian officials called the worst violation of a 2003 cease-fire -- also wounded 18 civilians on the Indian side and another three on the Pakistani side.

The violence has spread since Sunday night along the 200-kilometer (125-mile) border between Pakistan's Punjab province and the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir. That lower-altitude border, guarded by paramilitary border forces, is lined on both sides by ancient villages and agricultural fields.

Skirmishes also took place farther north, where Pakistan controls a part of Kashmir marked by a U.N.-monitored Line of Control, but no casualties were reported there.

"We have a very serious situation at hand right now," said Shantmanu, an Indian administrator in the area who uses one name. He said there was panic among people living close to the border.

Tens of thousands have fled homes on both sides. In total, nine civilians on the Pakistani side and seven on the Indian have been killed in the last three nights of fighting, officials said.

"We fail to understand why the Indians are targeting Pakistani civilian populations," said Maj. Gen. Khan Javed Khan of the Pakistani paramilitary border force.