ISLAMABAD: Indian troops on Saturday shot a rocket from across the Line of Control (LoC) in the Nakyal sector, killing a woman and injuring her two siblings and a cousin.
The attack took place in the Baig Wala Lanjot, a hamlet barely 150 metres away from the LoC in Nakyal sector of Kotli district, during the afternoon.
Kotli Deputy Commissioner Abdul Hameed Kiani said that 26-year old Rubaida Khayam died as a result of the attack. The victim’s sisters, Sufaida Khayam and Zubaiba, and cousin Sumaida Ismail were critically injured.
On Friday evening, Shan Begum, 55, and Zara Khalid, 7, were injured in Keri village of Charhoi sector and Sana Babar, 11, was injured in Seri Manjwarr village of Khuiratta sector, also in Kotli district. They are under treatment in DHQ Hospital Kotli.
The Foreign Office (FO) summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and recorded protest over the unprovoked firing by Indian troops.
South Asia Director General and Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Mohammad Faisal handed over the protest letter to the Indian diplomat in which Pakistan again called on India to abide by the ceasefire agreement.
Indian forces have carried out nearly 400 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary so far this year, resulting in deaths of dozens of civilians and injuries to over 65 people.
This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India has been continuous since 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,970 ceasefire violations.
Azm-i-Shahadat rally:
The latest LoC casualties occurred when massive anti-India protests have erupted on both sides of the LoC following the martyrdom of 17 Kashmiris in a single day in Shopian and Anantnag (Islamabad) districts of held Kashmir.
On Saturday, hundreds of people staged an “Azm-i-Shahadat’ (determination for martyrdom) rally in Muzaffarabad under the aegis of Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest and predominantly indigenous regroup fighting Indian occupation of Kashmir.
Participants of the rally were holding banners and placards inscribed with anti-India and pro-freedom slogans. “War with India will continue till freedom of occupied Kashmir,” read one of the placards.
On Friday, entire Pakistan and AJK had observed a ‘Solidarity Day’ with the struggling Kashmiris in accordance with a decision of the federal cabinet.