ISLAMABAD. Apr 3: Pakistani and Indian forces fought an artillery duel on their contested Kashmir frontier that left eight Indian soldiers dead, military sources said today, reports AFP.

Another six Pakistanis' were injured in Thursday's clash in the Sialkot Glacier region.

The battle, which lasted several hours, erupted when Indian forces started building concrete bunkers, barbed wire fences, security towers and search lights under "cover" of heavy artillery fire, the sources said.

Pakistani troops retaliated against the "unprovoked" Indian firing, the sources said.

Eight Indian soldiers were killed and six Pakistanis including three women and a soldier were wounded, according to the Pakistani toll. The sources said shells hit several villages near Suchit Garh town.

Officials said the Indian action on the boundary between Pakistan and southern part of Indian Kashmir was in violation of their ceasefire agreement.

International law bars the construction of fences or concrete bunkers at the boundary, they said.

However, they dismissed the incident as a "routine" occurrence in the region.

The boundary is defined by Pakistan as a temporary ceasefire line between Pakistan and Kashmir, pending a final decision over the disputed Himalayan region which has triggered two of the three wars between the neighbours since their independence in 1947.

Pakistan holds the northern third of Kashmir state, divided after the first war in 1948. while India controls the rest.

Pakistan has demanded implementation of United Nations' resolutions on Kashmir, calling for a referendum to decide the future of the state.

A separatist movement in Indian Kashmir has claimed more than 20,000 lives since 1989.

Meanwhile. Indian authorities denied today that eight Indian soldiers were killed in an

artillery clash with Pakistani troops in the Himalayan state of Kashmir.

"There has been no exchange of fire in Sialkot sector and no death of Indian soldier as reported (by Pakistani military sources). " a spokesman for the Indian Anny said in New Delhi.

'The report is totally incorrect." the spokesman added.

Pakistani military sources said earlier in Islamabad that eight Indian soldiers were killed and six Pakistanis wounded on Thursday In the artillery clash between Pakistani and Indian forces In the Sialkot sector.

The clash reportedly erupted when Indian forces began building concrete bunkers and erecting barbed wire fences, security towers and search lights under the "cover" of heavy artillery fire.

Indian and Pakistani troops routinely exchange small arms fire along the winding Kashmir border, both countries dispute the ownership of the province and have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir.