India hands over 2 teen-aged boys to Pakistani officials

LAHORE, Pakistan – Indian authorities have handed over to Pakistan two teen-aged boys who mistakenly crossed to the Indian side of disputed Kashmir five months ago and were investigated for alleged involvement in a terrorist attack.

Asif Mahmood, spokesman for Pakistan’s paramilitary rangers, said Friday that Indian officials handed over Ahsan Khurshid and Faisal Awan at the Wahga border point near the eastern city of Lahore, and they were subsequently released to their families.

Officials in Indian-controlled Kashmir said the two were released after investigators found they had no links to attackers who stormed an Indian military camp in September in Kashmir and killed 19 soldiers.

Pakistan and India have tensed relations and fought two of their three wars over the Kashmir region, which both claim in its entirety.