Kathua, Oct 10 (ANI): Hundreds of villagers in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir migrated to safer zones as violence between India and Pakistan escalated at the de-facto border dividing the two nuclear-armed rivals. Nine Pakistani and eight Indian civilians have been killed since security forces of both sides started heavy shelling more than a week ago along a 200-km stretch of border in the disputed region of Kashmir. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also expressed concern about the conflict, deploring the deaths and displacement of civilians in the worst fighting between the two nations in over a decade. District administration arranged buses and villagers around the international border were evacuated to safer regions. Almost 20,000 Indian civilians have fled their homes in the lowlands around India's Jammu region to escape the fighting, taking refuge in schools and relief camps.
