AKIPRESS.COM - Eight civilians, including a husband and wife and four members of another family, were killed when Indian and Pakistani soldiers fired at border posts and villages along the highly militarized frontier in disputed Kashmir, officials said Friday, AP reported.

An Indian soldier was also killed in the fighting.

The cross-border firing and shelling began overnight and spread to dozens of posts in the Jammu region of the Himalayan territory, said Indian police officer S.D. Singh.

Indian paramilitary officials said their soldiers responded to Pakistani gunfire and shelling, describing it as “unprovoked and indiscriminate.” The officials said the paramilitary soldier was killed by a Pakistani sniper Thursday night, leading to cross-border firing and shelling at several forward posts.