Kashmir: Five-year-old girl shot in head by Indian troops on disputed border with Pakistan

The United Nations fears nuclear war could break out between two rival states amid ongoing tension

Indian soldiers patrol the country's border with Pakistan (Getty)

A five-year-old girl has reportedly been killed after being shot by Indian troops on the Pakistani border.

The child had been walking outside her home in Polas village in the disputed region of Kashmir when a stray bullet hit her in the head.

The girl was rushed to hospital but died on the way from her injuries.

"A five-year-old girl was walking outside her house when a lone bullet fired by Indian troops pierced through her head," local government official Tahir Mumtaz said, according to Al Jazeera.

Villagers were said to have protested over the girl's killing and condemned the fighting on the day they were celebrating the Muslim festival of Eid.

After India and Pakistan won their independence from Britain in 1947, the two new states went to war over Kashmir for two years.

The situation spilled over again into war in 1965 and 1999, by which time both countries had declared themselves to be nuclear powers, and the dispute over the border has remained tense. Tens of thousands of civilians have been killed during the conflicts.

Since last September, firing has often broken out across the border. In April, the United Nations warned nuclear deterrence was at the “greatest risk of breaking down” in North Korea and between India and Pakistan over the disputed territory.