SRINAGAR, INDIA/MUZAFFARABAD, PAKISTAN: A t least 10 civilians and five security personnel were killed in cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan on Friday.

Pakistan's military said in a statement it had responded to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian army.

Indian officials said six civilians, three soldiers and a border guard were killed on their side. The Pakistan military said four civilians and one soldier were killed on the Pakistani side.

"As usual they targeted civilian populations without any remorse," said Syed Shahid Qadri, a government official in Azad Kashmir, where a woman was among the dead and 27 others were injured.

Across the border in Indian occupied Kashmir, officials said an 8-year-old child was among those killed in the shelling that started in the morning and continued late into the evening.

Mukhtar Ahmad, a resident of Uri in Indian occupied Kashmir said there was panic in the hillside town after loud explosions were heard from areas closer to the de facto border.

"Several families have fled the area and taken shelter in Uri town," he said.