Tanks rolled and fighter jets roared above India's main ceremonial avenue in an annual Republic Day military parade on Tuesday, hours after Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged heavy fire in the held Kashmir region. Celebrations were held under heavy security across India after recent hijack warnings and a spike in violence in occupied Kashmir, as well as border skirmishes between India and Pakistan.

The border firing began shortly after midnight, the latest in recent security flare-ups between India Pakistan that have added to tensions, heightened by the 2008 Mumbai attack. A spokesman for Indian border guards said Pakistani troops fired to provide cover to suspected militants trying to sneak into Indian occupied Kashmir.

But a Pakistani security official said Indian forces used automatic weapons and mortar bombs in "unprovoked firing" that hit Bijhwat village near Sialkot. "Our troops retaliated with full force, also using heavy weapons, which ended the Indian firing that lasted for about half an hour," spokesman Nadeem Raza said. No casualties were reported.

Copyright Reuters, 2010