India and Pakistan trade warnings over heavy Kashmir fighting -...

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Pakistan said on Thursday it was capable of responding "befittingly" to Indian border shelling, and warned against an escalation of the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed rivals in more than a decade.

Nine Pakistani and eight Indian civilians have been killed since both sides' security forces started heavy shelling more than a week ago along a 200-km (125-mile) stretch of border in the disputed, mostly Muslim region of Kashmir.

More were injured on Thursday. Both countries accused each other of starting the latest hostilities that have hit heavily populated civilian areas. India says it will not talk to Pakistan or stop firing until its neighbor backs down first.

"We do not want the situation on the borders of two nuclear neighbors to escalate into confrontation," the Pakistan Ministry of Defense said in a statement. "India must demonstrate caution and behave with responsibility."

Since they split 67 years ago, the nations have fought each other in three wars, two over Kashmir. There has not been a full-blown war since they both tested nuclear weapons in 1998.

Exchanges of sporadic fire are common along the de facto border dividing the region, despite a ceasefire pact signed in 2003. But the extent and intensity of the latest violence and the number of civilian deaths is unusual.

India earlier warned Pakistan it would pay an "unaffordable price" if it persisted with shelling and machine-gun fire across a heavily populated border area in the lowlands of Kashmir.

Both claim all of Kashmir's Himalayan mountains and fertile valleys. Their shared border is among the most heavily militarized in the world and travel between the two nations is kept to a minimum.

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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern on Thursday about a recent escalation of violence between Pakistan and India, deploring the deaths and displacement of civilians in the worst fighting between the nuclear-armed rivals in over a decade.

"The secretary-general is concerned about the recent escalation of violence along the line of control between India and Pakistan. He deplores the loss of lives and the displacement of civilians on both sides," said United Nations spokeswoman Vannina Maestracci.

The U.N. chief "encourages the governments of India and Pakistan to resolve all differences through dialogue and to engage constructively to find a long-term solution for peace and stability in Kashmir," the spokeswoman told reporters.

REUTERS