Border villagers flee for safety as Indo-Pak troops trade shells

A defence ministry official said two civilians were wounded in the village of Swajjan, 225 km west of Indian Kashmir's winter capital Jammu, when it was hit by more than 30 Pakistani shells.

He said several buildings were damaged in the village and that more than 20 families left the village, which lies on the de facto Kashmir border between India and Pakistan.

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"In retaliatory fire more than 10 Pakistani bunkers were smashed," the official said. There were no immediate reports of casualties on the Pakistani side.

Indian and Pakistani troops regularly exchange fire over the 767-kilometer (475-mile) Line of Control that divides Kashmir. Officials invariably charge the other side with setting off the incidents.

Violence has persisted despite moves between India and Pakistan to mend ties which had reached crisis level after a December 2001 attack by Islamic militants on the Indian parliament. The two countries in recent weeks have reappointed ambassadors and resumed a bus service.

Indian forces accuse Pakistani troops of opening fire to provide cover for Islamic militants crossing the de facto border to take part in the 14-year insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir.

Pakistan says it provides only moral and diplomatic support to an "indigenous" movement in India's sole Muslim-majority state.