At least three Pakistan Army soldiers, who were injured in Indian firing across the Line of Control (LoC), succumbed to injuries, said a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public relations (ISPR).

"Three Pakistani soldiers succumb to wounds," said the military’s media wing.

The incident occurred in the Thoob sector of Bhimber district.

The ISPR statement added that Indian forces also suffered casualties in the latest incident of cross-border firing. </s> MUZAFFARABAD, Pakistan (Reuters) - Indian shelling across the frontier into Pakistani-controlled Kashmir hit a bus, killing at least nine people, and three Pakistani soldiers were killed in cross-border firing, Pakistani officials said on Wednesday.

India, in a statement, expressed grief at Pakistani civilian casualties but said: “Retaliatory firing by Indian troops has only been carried out targeting locations from where Pakistan has initiated ceasefire violations on Indian posts.”

Describing the bus incident, Pakistani police official Jamil Mir put the number of dead at nine. He told Reuters four bodies were taken to a nearby hospital and five were still trapped in the bus.

Pakistan also said its military killed seven Indian soldiers on Wednesday.

Following the incident, Pakistan said it had summoned the Indian Deputy High Commissioner, J.P. Singh.

Pakistan’s military media wing, ISPR, put the death toll from the bus shelling at seven, adding three Pakistani soldiers were killed “while responding to Indian unprovoked firing.”

ISPR said: “We reserve the right to respond at the place and time of our choosing.”

Lawat, where the bus was hit, is 100 km (60 miles) northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani-held Kashmir, in the upper belt of the Neelum Valley that straddles the de facto border dividing Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

An Indian military spokesman said the Pakistani Army initiated “indiscriminate” firing on Wednesday on Indian Army posts in Bhimber Gali, Krishna Ghati and Nawshera sectors.

Relations between nuclear-armed neighbours Pakistan and India have been strained for several months, while cross-frontier shelling has intensified leading to the deaths of civilians and soldiers stationed along the disputed frontier.

Kashmir lies at the heart of the tension. The countries have fought two of their three wars over the region since partition and independence from Britain in 1947. </s> Violence has continued across the de-facto border between Indian-controlled Kashmir and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, known as the Line of Control (LoC).

Two Pakistan Army soldiers were killed in cross-border fire with Indian forces over the LoC on Saturday, according to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces.

The fighting took place at Nakiyal Sector, the Army's statement said. The dead soldiers have been named as Havaldar Abdur Rub and Naik Khuram.

The ISPR reports that Indian troops also sustained casualties and there was damage to the post.
Pakistan Army's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reports seven Pakistani soldiers have been killed by Indian cross-border shelling in Bhimber District, Azad Kashmir.