Indian 'indiscriminate shelling' kills civilians in Pakistan

Four civilians, including one minor, have been killed following Indian shelling into Pakistan late Tuesday, hours after airstrikes sent tensions between the two countries surging.

Pakistani officials said "intense and indiscriminate" Indian machinegun fire, mortar and artillery shelling of border areas started at around 5:30pm.

A shell hit one house in Mohra Dharoti village, the official told Dawn newspaper, killing a woman and her two children, aged-20 and eight.

Three more members of her family - aged between 18 and seven - were also injured in the bombardment

"An Indian mortar shell hit a house in Nakyal sector along the Line of Control that killed a mother, daughter and son while three others were injured," local disaster management authority official Shariq Tariq told AFP.

The agency described an exchange of fire between the two sides, which follow Indian airstrikes on Pakistan on Tuesday, sparking a major crisis between the two nuclear powers.

Another woman and seven others were injured in shelling elsewhere in Nakyal.

Deputy Commissioner Umer Azam told Dawn that continued cross-border fire means the death toll could rise.

"Since shelling is continuing intermittently, the casualties may go up… Once the guns fall silent we will be able to ascertain the exact details of losses," he said.

Indian launched multiple air strikes on what it said were militant camps in Pakistan's territory, said to be the first since 1971.

It followed a suicide attack blamed on the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad militant group, which killed 40 Indian soldiers in Kashmir earlier this month.

Tensions centre on Pakistan claims the whole of Kashmir region, which is mostly controlled by India.

Cross border fire around the "Line of Control", which separates the two sides, has killed and wounded dozens of soldiers and civilians on both sides in recent years.

The EU and other countries have urged both sides to show restraint and prevent tensions escalating.

The two countries have fought several major conflicts since their independence from the UK in 1947. 

Agencies contributed to this story.