The cross-border exchanges of fire between the border troops of India and Pakistan came at a time of heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.The incidents occurred near the border dividing Indian-occupied Kashmir (IoK) from the Pakistani sector of the territory. “A policeman, a man and a woman were killed when Indian troops opened fire across the border in Nakyal sector,” local official Zeeshan Nisar told AFP, adding four were wounded.Nakyal lies on the LoC, the de facto border dividing the disputed Himalayan state between India and Pakistan, where firing which started early Monday was still continuing. Nisar said three people were also wounded in the Neelum Valley by Indian troops.

Adnan Khursheed, another local official, confirmed the firing and casualties.Separately, six people including two women were wounded in overnight cross-border firing in the Madarpur sector which also damaged 25 houses and three vehicles, local government official Chaudhry Altaf told AFP.Officials in Nakyal sector say thousands of people have fled their homes due to the firing, though they were unable to confirm precise figures. More than 70 schools have also been closed in Nakyal and Goi sectors, authorities said.Last week authorities on both sides closed hundreds of schools along frontier areas in the south of the territory when cross-border firing killed 14 residents.

Relations between the two countries have plummeted in recent months, with India blaming Pakistani militants for a raid on an army base in its part of Kashmir in September that killed 19 soldiers.India said it responded by carrying out strikes across the heavily-militarised border, although Islamabad denies these took place.

The neighbours have been engaged in a diplomatic tit-for-tat ever since.Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947. Both claim the territory in full and have fought two wars over the mountainous region.Tensions in Indian-administered Kashmir were already high before the army base attack over the July 8 death of a popular militant leader, with nearly 90 people killed in clashes with security forces since then.