ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army claimed to have killed three Indian soldiers and injured five others in “retaliatory firing” across the Line of Control (LoC) after unprovoked Indian shelling claimed the lives of two Pakistani civilians in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Wednesday.
A press handout issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, “There are reports that three Indian soldiers were killed and five injured [in retaliatory fire by Pakistani troops]”.
ISPR said Indian “unprovoked firing” in the Rawalakot and Chirikot sectors “targeted civilian populations” in the villages of Kahuta, Chaffar, Serian and Narakot. “Pakistan Army posts are effectively engaging Indian posts,”, ISPR said, adding that Indian posts had suffered heavy damage.
It said that a woman and her younger brother were killed and two others injured as Indian troops resorted to heavy shelling from across the LoC.
An official said that Indian shelling began at 6am in the Abbaspur sector of Poonch district and remained “intense and indiscriminate” until 9am. “The Indians used both small and heavy arms, targeting the innocent and defenceless civilian population without any provocation,” the official said.
One of the shells landed on a house in Chaffar village, killing 22-year-old Zakia and her 20-year-old brother Kashif. Two women from the same village were also injured in the Indian shelling and are being treated at a local hospital.
The official said that educational institutions in the most vulnerable areas had also been closed due to frequent violation of the ceasefire by Indian forces.
Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi lauded the Pakistan Army for effectively countering the unprovoked firing.
Meanwhile, officials said that India had targeted many areas in Kotli district’s Nakyal sector overnight, but there were no reports of any casualties as yet.
Earlier, after a civilian was martyred by Indian firing along the LoC on Monday, the Pakistan Army destroyed two Indian posts. The firing also injured four other civilians in the Rakhchikri sector.
The heavily militarised LoC that splits Kashmir between Pakistan and India has witnessed regular cross-border shelling for quite some time, mostly resulting in civilian casualties.
According to AJK Disaster Management Authority Director Saeed Qureshi, the latest civilian casualties caused by Indian shelling had pushed the death toll from cross-border firing this year to 36. There have been more than 200 civilians injured, he said.
He added that at least three houses have been damaged completely while 43 houses and two educational institutions were damaged partially by Indian shelling.
On Monday, an elderly man was killed and five others wounded in Indian shelling in Haveli district, while two civilians were killed in the same district last week. A soldier was killed and three other soldiers were injured on the same day in Haveli district.
On Sept 27, one civilian was killed and four injured in Nakyal sector. Another civilian was killed and two wounded in the same sector on September 23.
The Foreign Office has repeatedly summoned the Indian diplomat over the issue.
On Tuesday, Pakistan Ambassador to the United Nations (UN) Dr Maleeha Lodhi warned India at the UN against the ceasefire violations across the LoC, saying that Pakistan will give an effective and matching response if any such thing happens.