India and Pakistan exchanged fire across the Kashmir Line of Control on Sunday, officials said, killing two guards and ending a days-old agreement to honour a ceasefire in the disputed region. Seven civilians were also injured at Aknoor in a barrage that claimed the lives of two Indian border officers.
India's Border Security Force claimed its troops returned fire after Pakistani border rangers in Sialkot fired into held Kashmir without provocation in the early hours of Sunday.
"The injured soldiers were immediately evacuated to a military hospital where they later succumbed (to their injuries)," border force spokesman Manoj Yadav told AFP from occupied Jammu. Pakistan authorities did not immediately comment on India's allegations or whether any damage was sustained on their side of the border.
The salvo of gun and mortar fire came just four days after Pakistan and India promised to end ceasefire violation. The renewed commitment to the ceasefire had encouraged thousands of civilians to return to their homes after weeks of shelling.