- Islamabad urges New Delhi to permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role
- Pakistan Army says its troops destroy Indian posts in retaliation, killing five
Pakistan on Wednesday summoned India’s deputy high commissioner and condemned the repeated ceasefire violations by the Indian forces in Baroh and Tandar sectors on July 18, 2017, which resulted in the martyrdom of two civilians and injuries to six others.
The SAARC and South Asia director general said that the deliberate targeting of civilians was indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws, a press release issued here said.
He urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement; investigate this and other incidents of the ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the Line of Control (LoC).
He also urged the Indian side to permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
On the other hand, a teen-aged boy and a man were killed and at least 13 others were injured as Indian troops continued to pound civilian populations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) with mortar shells on Wednesday, local officials said.
A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations stated that a soldier had also been martyred in the assault, while two were critically injured. “Pakistan Army aggressively responded on Indian posts and destroyed their posts firing on out posts and civilians,” the statement said. “Five Indian soldiers killed and many injured. Indian guns silent due to effective engagement,” it said.
“Unprovoked ceasefire violations shall always be responded strongly, aggressive and effectively by the Pakistan Army,” the ISPR director general said. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Rashid Naeem said that the reports pouring in from affected areas suggest that the Indian troops were ruthlessly targeting civilian populations, causing considerable material losses as well.
A local police official said that police were unable to gather exact details of the losses due to constant shelling. “We have poor telecommunication service in areas along the LoC, which is why details about losses reach us quite late,” he said.
In their weekly hotline contact on Monday, DGMO had communicated Pakistan’s demarche to his Indian counterpart to protest the deliberate targeting of the army’s vehicle, resulting in the martyrdom of four soldiers, besides injuring one soldier and a civilian passerby.
He had made it clear that while the Pakistan Army had been exercising restraint, recurrence of any such incident in future could, however, leave it with no choice but to respond with further strong and effective steps, including choking India’s military supply lines.