- Unprovoked Indian shelling along LoC on Monday kills one in Nezapir sector whereas a woman and a teenage boy had died on Sunday
ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office (FO) on Monday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh to protest the latest “unprovoked” ceasefire violation by India across the Line of Control (LoC).
The ceasefire violations along the LoC by the Indian troops are unrelenting. Earlier in the day, a man was killed and two children were wounded when Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing. According to Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Indian border forces opened indiscriminate firing at Nezapir Sector of Rawalakot, Azad Kashmir.
The statement went to claim that Pakistani forces gave a “befitting reply” to the Indian forces and “silenced” the Indian guns. Today’s violations come on the heels of Sunday’s wherein two, a woman and a teenager, were killed and six other people suffered injuries in two districts of AJK.
FO Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal summoned Singh and “condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control on February 4, 2018 in Nezapir, Nikial and Karela Sectors”, a statement issued by the FO said.
According to the FO, Indian forces have committed more than 190 ceasefire violations since the start of 2018, killing 13 civilians and injuring 65 others through the use of heavy mortars and automatic weapons.
Indian border forces violated the ceasefire 1,970 times in 2017, the FO statement said, adding that the deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is “deplorable and contrary to human dignity”.
“The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation.”
Dr Faisal once again urged India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Agreement, investigate incidents of ceasefire violations and allow the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) “to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions”.
Ceasefire violations are a frequent feature along the LoC and Working Boundary despite the leadership of Pakistan Rangers and India’s Border Security Forces agreeing in November 2017 that the “spirit” of the 2003 Ceasefire Agreement must be revived to protect innocent lives.
On February 1, eight persons, four of them women, were injured in intense Indian shelling in Khuiratta sector of Kotli district.
On January 30, two women were injured in Goi sector, also located in Kotli district.