The Pakistan army yesterday blew up an Indian army brigade headquarters in continued shelling in Kashmir and killed a "large number" of troops in other positions, official sources said in Islamabad.
"Smoke coiled off and the flames were visible from a distant place, reflecting enemy losses," the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) said, describing the attack in the Kargil sector of the front lines dividing the two armies.
Pakistani troops also destroyed "several positions killing a large number of enemy troops", it said, quoting sources. "This selective response by the Pakistan army has reduced the frequent firing of the Indian troops on the civilian population across the LoC (Line of Control)."
The report said two children aged 10 and 11 died in Jura village in the Neelum valley sector while another civilian from the village of Sehri Pandala in the Bhimber sector was also killed.
Earlier, officials in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani Kashmir said 58 people had died in the previous four days while hundreds had been injured.
Pakistan has lodged complaints with the UN military observers' group, which monitors the LoC, against ceasefire violations by the Indian troops.
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, suspected Kashmiri guerrillas yesterday shot dead 34 villagers in a rare attack.
The attack took place at Kalaban, about 100 km from the town of Chamba, according to an official at the district magistrate's office in Chamba.
"According to the latest information, 34 people have been killed and six have been injured," a police official at Chamba in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh said.
Kalaban, where the gunmen struck after midnight, is about 30 km from the provincial border with Jammu and Kashmir. Kashmiri militants were believed to behind the killings, an official at the district magistrate's office said. Each side has blamed the other for starting the firing along the border between Pakistan and India.
Indian officials, however, began to play the matter down, saying the shelling was petering out yesterday. The head of the Indian air force termed it "a seasonal phenomenon".
Firing along the 1,300 km Kashmir border, however, was limited to just a few areas yesterday, Indian officials said. They said intermittent firing continued in the district of Kupwara, 120 km north of the summer capital of Srinagar, but other areas were calm. In Srinagar, daily life continued as normal.
Indian casualties yesterday stood at 34, while 58 deaths had been reported on the Pakistan side since the firing began on Thursday.
Machine-gun fire along the unofficial border of the Himalayan territory is common but artillery barrages are rare.
India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the state. Islamabad argues there can be no improvement in bilateral relations until the 50-year Kashmir issue is solved through a UN-sponsored referendum in the Muslim majority state.
New Delhi categorically rules out all outside mediation and says the territory is a "integral" part of India.
In New Delhi, the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, warned Pakistan that India would use a "firm hand" to respond to any attack on its border.
"We are committed to keeping our borders secure. We will deal with a firm hand any attack by Pakistan," Mr Vajpayee told the upper house of the parliament.
Earlier, Mr Vajpayee told the lower house of the parliament that he was looking forward to a "purposeful" dialogue with his Pakistani counterpart, Mr Nawaz Sharif, after their talks in Colombo ended in deadlock last week.
Meanwhile, India has successfully tested a multi-target surface-to-air missile with a range of 25 km, the Press Trust of India reported yesterday. The 650 kg "Akash" (Sky) missile was launched in the afternoon from a firing base in the eastern town of Chandipur-on-Sea, military sources said. It is capable of carrying a 50 kg payload.
The guided missile, first tested in 1996, is "capable of forcing all intruding aircraft to fly only at tree-top level from about 20 km away thereby reducing their range and bomb load", military sources said. They said its radar could simultaneously keep track of 64 aircraft at a range of between 40 and 60 km.
India launched its missile programme in 1983 after relying on the former Soviet Union for most of its weaponry.