- DC says casualties may rise due to magnitude of Indian shelling
- FO summons Indian diplomat to lodge a protest against violation
Indian troops resorted to heavy shelling in different areas of Azad Jammu and Kashmir from across the Line of Control (LoC), civilian and security officials said on Saturday.
At least five Kashmiri civilians were killed and 10 others injured in the shelling. Poonch Deputy Commissioner Tahir Mumtaz confirmed that there has been heavy firing and shelling by Indian troops in different parts of Abbaspur and Hajira sectors since 5:30am in the (Saturday) morning.
He said that Mohammad Sharif, a 75-year-old resident of Bhaira village near the Tetrinote crossing point in Hajira sector, lost his life after a mortar shell landed on his mud-house, destroying it completely. Apart from him, 70-year-old woman Sassi Begum was also killed in Tetrinote.
She had come from Mandhol village in Battal sector to see her relatives in Tetrinote. The deputy commissioner said that Riyasat, 35, and Aqsa Iftikhar, 18, were injured in Tetrinote. A 26-year-old Faiza Saleem was also killed and two young girls were injured in Satwal village of Abbaspur sector, the district official said.
Kulsoom, 35, was killed and her 14-year-old son injured in the Dhakki Chafar village of Abbaspur sector. Abida Parveen, 22, was injured in Chafar and two teenagers Rizwan Hanif, 16, and Faizan Ali, 14, were injured in Batol and Chaatra villages of the same sector. “These are the initial reports, but given the magnitude of shelling, I am afraid the casualties may rise,” the deputy commissioner said.
In Kotli district, a 22-year-old Aniba Jamshed was critically injured in Indian firing in the Lanjot village of Nakyal sector at about 6:30am. “A bullet fired by the Indian troops hit her in the head, rendering her critically wounded,” according to the Nakyal police. Later, the woman succumbed to her injuries in the afternoon, said Zulqarnain Sarfraz, senior superintendent of police of the Kotli district.
In the same sector, two persons were also injured in the Oli Panjni village, he said. The heavily militarised LoC that splits the disputed region of Jammu Kashmir between Pakistan and India has been extremely tense for quite some time, and as a result civilian casualties occur frequently.
In Islamabad, the Foreign Office summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to lodge a protest against the unprovoked ceasefire violation. FO’s Director General South Asia and SAARC Dr Muhammad Faisal lodged the protest.
“The deliberate targeting of civilians is deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws,” Dr Faisal said and urged India to respect the 2003 agreement, to investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, to instruct Indian forces to respect the bilateral arrangement, and to maintain peace on LoC.
