Pakistan has summoned a senior Indian diplomat to protest against the recent deaths of three civilians who were allegedly killed in shelling by Indian forces along the de facto border in the disputed region of Kashmir.

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that J P Singh, the Indian deputy high commissioner, was summoned to receive Islamabad’s protest over the deadly incident.

"The Indian Deputy High Commissioner, Mr. J.P. Singh, was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs... to [hear] protest over the unprovoked ceasefire violations by India during the nights of 23rd, 24th and 25th October," Pakistan’s foreign office spokesman Qazi M. Khalilullah said in a statement.

Khalilullah added that “three civilians, including a teenage girl” were killed and 23 others injured as a result of firing by Indian forces.

Pakistani officials say the civilians were killed last week by Indian troops in the Shakargarh and Zafarwal sectors of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

Indian and Pakistani forces have been engaged in similar clashes in the disputed valley over the past few months. The two sides have accused each other of provocation and initiating the clashes.

Pakistan and India have been engaged in hostility over Kashmir ever since their independence from British colonial rule and their partition in 1947.

The two neighbors have fought two wars over the mountainous region as the archrivals both lay claim to the entire territory. Pakistan controls one-third of Kashmir, with the remaining two-thirds being under India’s control.

Islamabad and New Delhi agreed on a ceasefire in 2003, and launched a peace process the following year. Since then, there have been sporadic clashes, with both sides accusing the other of violating the ceasefire.

Thousands of people have been killed in the unrest in Kashmir over the past two decades.

Pakistan protests threatening phone call from India

Khalilullah also protested a "threatening phone call" made from the Indian capital, New Delhi, to the Sindh governor's official residence in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi late last Friday. The Pakistani official also informed the Indian diplomat about details of the call.

Local media reports say the anonymous caller had threatened to detonate explosives on the residence of Governor Sindh Ishratul Ibad Khan.

Khalilullah said that Pakistan has demanded that India investigate the anonymous call.