JAMMU - Five members of a single family were killed Sunday when a mortar bomb fired by Pakistani soldiers landed on their home in Indian-occupied Kashmir, claimed police. The incident happened in the southern Poonch sector in the disputed Himalayan region.

Police said a 35-year-old man, two children aged seven and 12, a teenage boy and a woman were killed.

"The five were killed inside their home when a shell fired from Pakistan side of the border hit it," director general of police, Shesh Paul Vaid, told AFP.

Two girls, including a five-year-old, were injured and taken to hospital, a police statement said.

Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British colonial rule in 1947. Both claim the former kingdom in full and have fought two wars over it. There have been intense skirmishes this year along the de facto border, known as the Line of Control.

Last month more than 1,000 villagers were evacuated to safer places in the northern Uri sector amid a heavy exchange of fire.  Tensions are already high after Pakistan and India last week accused each other of harassing diplomats in New Delhi and Islamabad.

India deploys hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the territory, where freedom fighters demand either independence or a merger with Pakistan.

INDIA LODGES ANOTHER PROTEST WITH PAKISTAN

Monitoring Desk adds: India on Sunday lodged another protest with authorities in Pakistan following incidents of harassment of its diplomatic staff stationed in Islamabad, reported Indian media.

On Saturday, the “second secretary at the high commission was aggressively followed by unidentified people in a car in close proximity in an intimidating manner,” said sources in Indian government.

On Sunday, “four High Commission of India officials travelling in an official vehicle were aggressively followed by two unknown persons on motorbikes in an intimidating manner,” the sources said.

“The website of the High Commission continues to be intermittently blocked causing inconvenience and affecting the normal functioning of the mission,” they said, adding that the Indian high commission has asked the Pakistan Government to “investigate these incidents and ensure that such incidents do not recur and share the result of the investigation with us.”

Last week, Pakistan recalled its envoy to Delhi Sohail Mahmood for consultations following incidents of harassment of its diplomatic staff in New Delhi.

News reports in India and Pakistan had earlier said that Pakistani diplomats and their families in India have been the target of harassment by Indian authorities for many weeks.