Residents near the disputed boundary in the divided Kashmir region on Sunday experienced their first lull since a dangerous escalation between Pakistan and India erupted last week, bringing the two nuclear-armed rivals close to war.
Many villagers used the calm in Pakistani-held Kashmir to leave their homes in the Chakoti area along the so-called Line of Control -- the demarcation line that divides the troubled Himalayan region into an Indian and a Pakistani sector -- and move to safety.
Pakistani government official Moazzam Zafar said some 200 families have already taken shelter in three large government buildings in the territory. Zafar said the authorities were providing warm clothing, bedding, food and medicines, and would establish more shelters. Pakistan retaliated, shooting down a fighter jet on Wednesday and detaining its pilot, who was returned to India on Friday. India, in turn, on Saturday handed over the body of a Pakistani civilian prisoner beaten to death by inmates in a jail in India last week. The man, Skahir Ullah, was buried Sunday in his home village of Sialkot in Punjab province.
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