Mukesh Gupta/Reuters
Hundreds of civilians fled their homes in the disputed Kashmir region on Monday after shelling between India and Pakistan left nine dead and at least 25 wounded. It was the heaviest fighting since India called off peace talks last month. Tensions between the two nuclear rivals have been rising in recent years over the lush, mountainous region, which is claimed by both sides and who have fought three wars and countless skirmishes over the territory since their independence in 1947. Both sides claim the other started the latest round of violence, with Monday’s fighting involving Pakistan lobbing shells into the village of Arnia, about two miles from the unofficial border, known as the Line of Control (LoC), and killing five, Indian officials said. India responded with a counter-barrage, which killed four. India said it also had later killed three Pakistan-based militants trying to sneak across the LoC. There are dozens of cross-border incidents every year, with more than 300 in 2013 that kills 12 Indian soldiers and 10 Pakistani soldiers. The clashes come after India cancelled long-stalled peace talks between the two countries last month, despite early optimism following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election and his outreach to his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sharif.