On New Year’s Eve, a terror attack by militants in Kashmir left five Hindus dead. According to the Iranian news agency, the militants entered a Hindu family’s home in a remote village in Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir around 01:30 hours local time and fired indiscriminately ar the inhabitants, killing five family members and injuring others. The agency reported that a massive operation has been launched by the Indian Army and Police to track down the militants responsible for the attack.
Tense buildup along the border
Indian troops continued their deployment along the twisting India-Pakistan border. Several clashes were reported in the past three days. These clashes included heavy automatic weapons fire and mortar shelling across the cease-fire line in the disputed province of Kashmir. Indian authorities told Reuters that Pakistani forces fired without provocation in four areas Sunday night, killing one soldier and injuring five.
"All along the border there is a continuing Indian military build-up and concentration of forces far in excess of what we have seen in the past," Pakistani military spokesman Major General Rashid Qureshi was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.
An army official in Pakistani-administered Kashmir the official told Reuters news agency that the situation as "still highly explosive and dangerous” and said that “Any small incident could lead to the situation becoming out of control."
