The Indian army says two civilians have been killed and three wounded in Indian-controlled Kashmir as Indian and Pakistani troops traded fire in the disputed Himalayan region.

Indian army spokesman Lt. Col. Manish Mehta says Pakistani soldiers started shelling and firing at Indian military posts on Saturday morning in the Nowshera sector along the highly militarized Line of Control that divides the region between India and Pakistan.

Mehta says Indian troops returned fire and the gunbattle was still underway Saturday afternoon. There is no immediate comment from Pakistan.

According to civilian administrator Shahid Iqbal, the dead include a 13-year-old girl and a 51-year-old man.

Iqbal says that more than 1,500 people in about 15 villages are trapped in their homes, which are in the direct line of fire.