Indian and Chinese troops brawled on their contested Himalayan borderleaving injuries on both sides, military sources and media reports said onMonday.

The incident last week came six months after a pitched battle which killedat least 20 Indian troops and an unknown number of Chinese forces.

The latest incident happened last week at Naku La in Sikkim state, militarysources told *AFP*.

Media reports quoted Indian military officials as saying there werecasualties on both sides.

A Chinese patrol tried to cross into Indian territory and was forced back,the officials said.

Naku La connects Sikkim to the Tibet region in China.

Hand-to-hand fighting on the Sikkim border in May last year set off thelatest frontier tensions between the world’s two most-populous nations.

In June, troops from the two sides fought with fists and wooden clubs inthe Galwan valley of Ladakh region.

China and India, who fought a border war in 1962, blamed each other for thedispute and each has poured tens of thousands of extra troops into borderzones.

The latest de-escalation talks between military commanders were held onSunday. -APP/AFP