The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Agar

Indian and Pakistani soldiers traded fire across the Kashmir border for more than 12 hours overnight and into Tuesday in what the Indian army called the worst violation yet of the nuclear-armed neighbors' cease-fire agreement.

The gun battle came after an Indian soldier and four Pakistanis were killed Monday in a deadly clash along the heavily armed frontier that divides Indian and Pakistani controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said.

No further casualties were reported Tuesday.

India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir. However, the frontier has been largely quiet since the 2003 cease-fire agreement, which has formed the cornerstone of a peace process between the two countries.

"This is the biggest violation of the cease-fire in last five years," said Lt. Col. Anil Kumar Mathur, an army spokesman. "We've sought a meeting with Pakistani army to protest the violation of cease-fire," he said.

The Indian army said the fighting Monday began when Pakistani troops crossed the frontier and opened fire.

Pakistani police near the border said they had no information on the shooting and the Pakistani army could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday.

While the border has been largely quiet in recent years there have been an increase of incidents in recent months.

Both sides have blamed the other for violating the cease-fire and New Delhi has accused Islamabad of helping Islamic rebels sneak into its part of Kashmir.

Nearly a dozen Islamic rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict. India routinely accuses Pakistan of assisting the insurgents, a charge Islamabad denies.