Five Children Killed in Pakistan-Kashmir

Islamabad: At least five schoolchildren including three girls were killed when a device they were playing with exploded in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, local TV channels reported.

The blast occurred when the children were playing with the device found in a farm near their school in Neelum Valley, close to the Line of Control(LoC), which divides Pakistan and India in the disputed Kashmir region, TV channels reported.

Reports said Pakistani soldiers have started an operation to remove such devices in the area near the LoC where heavy exchanges of fire were common between the two countries.

Pakistan and India have been maintaining a ceasefire on the volatile LOC in Kashmir since late 2003.