Tuesday January 18, 2005 7:16 PM
By NEELESH MISRA
Associated Press Writer
NEW DELHI (AP) - India accused Pakistani soldiers Tuesday of firing mortar shells across the dividing line in Kashmir in the first violation of a 14-month cease-fire between the South Asian nuclear-armed rivals.
The cease-fire was the longest since an insurgent campaign in the divided Himalayan province began in 1989. Both countries claim the mainly Muslim, former princely state in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.
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Nearly 66,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the conflict.
Military officials in Jammu, the winter capital of Jammu-Kashmir state, said the firing took place just north of Punch town, about 150 miles northwest of Jammu at the army's Durga Post.
India and Pakistan are holding regular talks on a series of disputes that have haunted their relations since 1947, when British colonialists left the subcontinent and the new Islamic nation of Pakistan was carved out of Indian mainland.
They have since fought three wars, two of them over their rival claims over Kashmir
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