Indian firing kills 3 people, injures eleven along Working Boundary, LoC

Three people, including a young girl, were killed and eleven others were injured in Nakyal and Tatta Pani sectors along the Line of Control (LoC) on Friday when Indian troops opened fire in the area.

Earlier on Friday, Indian media quoted India’s Border Security Force (BSF) as claiming that 15 personnel of Pakistan Rangers were killed during firing across the border.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) rejected Indian claims in connection with the alleged killings of Pakistani troops along the Working Boundary.

“Indian claims of killing any Pakistani soldier at the Working Boundary are absolutely baseless and untrue,” the ISPR said in a statement.

“India’s claim is part of their propaganda campaign aimed to hide their losses at the Working Boundary and also divert world attention from the Kashmir issue.”

Along the LoC, Indian troops opened fire in the Kotli sector which killed two, a man and a minor girl, and injured four, including two children, said officials and residents from the area.

“Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing in Tatta Pani, Jandrot and Nakyal sectors in the afternoon, using small and heavy weapons,” an official told media.

In the area of the Working Boundary, Indian troops resorted to firing in the Shakargarh sector, which resulted in the death of a woman and injured seven others, said a statement released from the Inter-Services Public Relations. The deceased were identified as Saima, 25, Aamna, 7, and Abdul Latif, 50.

“Pakistani Rangers befittingly responded to Indian unprovoked firing and targeted Indian posts inflicting heavy casualties,” said the ISPR statement. The “intense and heavy” exchange of fire continued for 11 hours on Harpal and Chaprar sectors on the Working Boundary, it said.

For the third time in less than two weeks, the Indian deputy high commissioner was summoned to the Foreign Office where the South Asia and SAARC Director General Dr Mohammad Faisal lodged a protest over ceasefire violations by the BSF in the Chaprar and Harpal sectors and along the Line of Control in Bhimber sector. The Indian diplomat was asked to ensure that the incidents were investigated and that the findings shared with Pakistan.

Pakistan maintains that India is attempting to divert the world’s attention away from ‘atrocities’ committed by government forces in India-held Kashmir.

India said it responded by carrying out strikes across the heavily militarised border, although Islamabad denies these took place.

Tensions were already high before the attack, with deadly violence over the death on July 8 of a popular Kashmir rebel leader, 22-year-old Burhan Wani.

Nearly 90 people, most of them young protesters and some children, have been killed in clashes with security forces in Indian-administered Kashmir since then. Some 12,000 people have been wounded.