- ISPR says 10 civilians also injured in unprovoked Indian firing in Sialkot Working Boundary village
RAWALPINDI: Four civilians, including a woman and three children, were killed in unprovoked firing by Indian troops on a border village across the Working Boundary in Sialkot, according to the army’s media wing.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), in a statement released on Friday, said that 10 people were also injured in the firing.
The ISPR stated further that the Punjab Rangers returned fire, and an exchange of firing is taking place intermittently.
Meanwhile, the acting foreign secretary summoned the Indian high commissioner and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary (WB).
The statement issued by the Foreign Office said that Indian forces along the LoC and WB are continuously targetting civilian populated areas with heavy weapons.
Indian forces have so far carried out more than 1,050 ceasefire violations along the LoC and WB this year, resulting in the martyrdom of 28 innocent civilians, while injuring 117 others.
India was told that deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is deplorable and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws.
The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, the statement added.
The acting foreign secretary urged India to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate all incidents of ceasefire violations, and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary.
He urged that the Indian side should permit UN Military Observers Group to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.
The Associated Press, quoting Indian officials, earlier reported that the firing began after an Indian paramilitary soldier was allegedly killed by a Pakistani sniper late Thursday. The Indian officials also claimed that two people were killed by Pakistani firing.
The incident comes days after a two-week silence on the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary was broken on Monday when a Pakistani man was shot dead by an Indian sniper.
The heavily militarised LoC has frequently witnessed ceasefire violations, particularly after September 2016, in a serious breach of a truce signed by the two armies in November 2003.
Apart from heavy mortar shelling, Indian troops have resorted to deliberate targeting of civilians with small arms while they conduct daily chores in vulnerable areas along the LoC in AJK.
“In 2017, 46 civilians were killed in similar attacks and another 262 wounded, while the number of the deceased and injured persons in 2016 was 41 and 142 respectively,” according to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA).
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