Indian army kills five near Pakistan border in Kashmir

Srinagar

 Indian soldiers shot dead five suspected rebels Friday near the heavily militarised border in Kashmir as they tried to sneak in from the Pakistani side of the divided territory, an army spokesman said.

 The group of armed men were intercepted by Indian soldiers when they crossed the Line of Control (LoC) early morning in Gurez, about 130 kilometres (80 miles) north of the main city of Srinagar.

 "Five terrorists were eliminated by the army while they were trying to infiltrate across the LoC in Gurez Sector," Colonel N. N. Joshi said.

 "Soldiers... effectively foiled the infiltration bid," he said.

 India regularly accuses Pakistan of arming and training rebels to infiltrate what it sees as its territory.

 Islamabad denies the allegation, saying it only provides diplomatic and moral support to the Kashmiri struggle for self-determination.

 The South Asian nuclear-armed rivals have exchanged heavy mortar firing across the LoC almost daily for weeks, with two civilians killed Thursday on the Pakistani side, according to a Pakistani military statement.

 Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full and have fought two wars over its control.

 Both regularly accuse each other of breaching a border ceasefire they agreed on in 2003 and the conflict has left tens of thousands dead, mostly civilians.