Six dead as Kashmir shelling continues

Hopes for peace were signalled alongside threats of war by both India and Pakistan, as the nuclear-armed neighbours exchanged deadly shelling in the disputed region of Kashmir, killing at least six people.

The two sides fired mortar and artillery guns across the ceasefire line dividing the Himalayan region, said Lt Col HS Oberoi, an army spokesman in Jammu. Pakistani shells also fell in several villages in neighbouring Punjab state, but there were no casualties.

The Pakistan army said Indian troops killed five civilians while India said at least one of its soldiers was killed and seven others were wounded.

India and Pakistan have massed about 1 million troops at their frontier since December. Tensions escalated last week after suspected Pakistan-based Islamic militants raided an army camp in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir, killing 34 people - mostly soldiers’ wives and children.

Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee yesterday met senior military and political leaders in Srinagar, summer capital of India’s Jammu-Kashmir state, after which he issued a warning that battle could be imminent.

‘‘India has accepted the challenge thrown by our neighbour and we are preparing ourselves for decisive victory against the enemy’’.

‘‘We will not let Pakistan carry on its proxy war against India any longer.’’

Still, Vajpayee said he hoped for peace. When asked by a reporter about ‘‘war clouds,’’ Vajpayee responded, ‘‘The sky is clear. But sometimes lightning strikes even in clear skies. We hope lightning will not strike.’’

Soon after Vajpayee left Srinagar, militants lobbed a grenade at a paramilitary post in the heart of the city. A Border Security Force member and a civilian were injured, said border force spokesman RS Bhullar.

On Wednesday India’s navy moved five warships closer to Pakistan after Vajpayee told hundreds of soldiers on the Kashmir border to prepare for war.

In Islamabad, a spokesman for Pakistani President Gen Pervez Musharraf warned India against any attack, saying the results ‘‘would not be good for India’’.

Pakistan government spokesman Gen Rashid Quereshi said his country was exercising restraint.

‘‘We are forced to respond militarily in Kashmir because of the other side firing continuously on the civilian population,’’ Quereshi said. ‘‘But Pakistan’s efforts are designed to de-escalate, not exacerbate the situation.’’

However, he later cautioned that ‘‘Pakistan has a fully functional military which is capable of defending every inch of its territory’’.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has offered to mediate, called on India and Pakistan to resolve their differences peacefully. The United States and Britain urged restraint and prepared to send in diplomatic missions.

India accuses Pakistan of waging war through Pakistan-based militants, who New Delhi accuses of crossing the border in disputed Kashmir and launching terror attacks.

Vajpayee and his senior Cabinet members have been careful not to threaten an outright attack on Pakistan, although some members of his coalition government have said India should do so.

Some government officials, including defence minister George Fernandes, have also discussed striking the Islamic militant groups’ camps in the Pakistan-controlled portion of Kashmir, though they allege there also are camps in Pakistan proper.

In the past week, cross-border shelling has killed dozens in divided Kashmir, which both nations claim. India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the Himalayan region.

Vajpayee said Pakistan has waged a proxy war for 12 years by promoting Pakistan-based Islamic militants fighting for Indian-controlled Kashmir’s independence or merger with Pakistan.

Militant attacks inside mostly Hindu India have killed at least 60,000 people.

Pakistan denies backing the militants militarily, saying it only supports their aims of separating Muslim-majority Kashmir from India.

Pakistan and human rights activists accuse Indian security forces of raping and torturing Kashmir’s Muslims and executing Islamic militants instead of detaining them. India denies that.