India continues to kill innocents across LoC

—-13-year-old boy killed in Indian shelling in AJK

 —FO summons Indian diplomat to protest ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: A 13-year-old boy was killed on Tuesday after Indian troops resorted to cross-border shelling in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Tuesday.

AJK Assistant Commissioner Waleed Anwar said, “ Indian border forces resorted to heavy mortar shelling in a civilian populated area at 8:30 am, thus resulting in the death of a teenage boy.” He said the 13-year-old boy, identified as Zian Ibrahim, was killed after his house was struck by a mortar shell in Dharoti Naari village at 9 am.

Meanwhile, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal summoned India’s Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh on Tuesday and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on February 27, 2018, in Nakyal sector, which resulted in the death of the teenage boy.

Dr Faisal urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit, and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He also urged the Indian side to permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role per the UN Security Council resolutions.

AJK Disaster Management Authority data showed that 14 people have so far been killed in cross-border shelling in the current year, while 61 people have been injured in unprovoked Indian firing from across the border.

It is important to mention here that despite repeated calls for restraint, India had continued to commit ceasefire violations. In 2018, the Indian forces carried out more than 400 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary which resulted in the death of 18 innocent civilians while injuring 68 others. This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India had been continuing from 2017 when the Indian forces committed a total of 1,970 ceasefire violations.

The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas was indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India were a big threat to regional peace and security, and could also lead to a strategic miscalculation.