Three people, including a jawan, were killed and six injured in firing by Pakistani troops along the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in the Jammu division for the third day on Saturday, the police said.
Nine persons had been killed in ceasefire violations in three days, police officials said.
The jawan was killed after being hit by a bullet during the cross-border firing in the Krishna Ghati sector of Poonch district, the officials said.
A Defence spokesman identified the soldier as sepoy Mandeep Singh, 23, a resident of Alampur village of Sangroor in Punjab.
He said the Pakistani Army had launched unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms and automatic guns in the sector.
The Army retaliated strongly and effectively, the spokesman said.
The officials said two civilians — Gaura Ram, 17, of Kapur R.S. Pura, and Gour Singh, 45, of Abdullian — were killed and five injured in firing by the Pakistani Rangers along the IB in Jammu district.
A BSF spokesman said heavy cross-border firing was under way in the area from Octroi to Chenab (Akhnoor) in the Suchetgarh sector of R.S. Pura from Saturday morning, leaving a jawan injured in the Pargwal sector.
The BSF retaliated and the exchange of fire was under way till the last reports were received.
A jawan of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) was injured in cross-border shelling in Jammu, officials said. The condition of constable Lallu Ram was said to be stable.
The jawan, who belongs to the 14th Battalion, was deployed for law and order duties along with the Jammu and Kashmir police at the Kanachak police station, when he was hit by splinters of a mortar shell that landed in the area.
The heavy firing had forced thousands of border residents to flee their homes, and the authorities announced closure of educational institutions for three days along the LoC and the IB.
Between 8,000 and 9,000 people living along the IB had shifted to safer places, and most of them were living with relatives, officials said.
Over 1,000 people had been housed in camps in the R.S. Pura, Samba and Kathua areas, they said.
