India/Pakistan: Skirmishes Put Feeling of Wartime on India-Pakistan Border

Aug 27, 2014 | Ellen Barry and Salman Masood, New York Times
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JORA FARM, India —  The habits of wartime have crept back into life here along the border between India and Pakistan.In the mornings, villagers stitch up shrapnel wounds on the hides of their water buffalo, and climb up to the rooftops to examine gouges left behind by exploding shells. Desperate for a night’s sleep, some have descended into concrete-reinforced bunkers that were nearly forgotten after 2003, when the two countries agreed to a cease-fire.It is not clear what has caused the rise in nightly artillery firing across the border, which intensified in mid-August and, according to officials, has killed two Indian civilians and four Pakistani civilians, and injured dozens more. On Wednesday, there was hope that a de-escalation had begun. Two rare nights had passed without gunfire, and junior commanders from both countries met in a first step toward bringing down tensions.