Ceasefire violation: India shells Kakuta village along LoC, 75-year-old civilian dead

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RAWALPINDI: In a fresh ceasefire violation, Indian troops on Tuesday shelled Kakuta village in Chirikot sector along the Line of Control (LoC), killing a 75-years-old civilian, the military’s media wing said.

“Indian bunkers (were) engaged by Pak troops” after they targeted Kakuta village in Chirikot sector, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement, adding that the 75-year-old victim of Indian shelling was identified as Mehmooda Begum.

Media reports citing Raja Tahir Mumtaz, the deputy commissioner for Poonch district, said Mehmooda Begum was busy in household chores in the courtyard of her house when she received a fatal gunshot wound in her neck at about 3pm.

Polas Kakuta is located in the closest proximity of the heavily militarised LoC, which has been witnessing frequent ceasefire violations in serious breach of a 14-year truce agreement between the armies of India and Pakistan.

Earlier on Sunday, a child was injured when Indian security forces resorted to unprovoked firing at civilian population across the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The injured 10-year-old child was identified as Umar, who was playing in his home in Battal sector when he was hit by a bullet fired by Indian Border Security Force (BSF). He was rushed to a nearby hospital.

Earlier, two women were killed and six others wounded in heavy Indian shelling in the Leepa valley of Muzaffarabad division on October 24.

On Friday, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi had visited the LoC in the company of Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, where he strongly condemned India’s “unprofessional approach” of targeting innocent civilians from across the divide.

Interestingly, the same day, the 44th meeting annual between Pakistan Rangers and India’s Border Security Force (BSF) had concluded in New Delhi, where, among many other things, the loss of innocent lives as a result of ceasefire violations and unprovoked firing was also discussed.

The leaders of the two forces had agreed to revive the spirit of the 2003 ceasefire agreement between the two armies to overcome this ordeal.

According to military sources, India has committed around 1,141 ceasefire violations this year — the highest compared to other years since November 2003, when the two armies had struck a historic truce agreement.

As a result of the violations, 42 civilians (24 of them men and 18 women) have lost their lives while another 248 have sustained injuries in different areas of AJK in the ongoing year, according to the State Disaster Management Authority.