5 Indian soldiers killed in LoC skirmishes

Four Indian posts destroyed in firing by Pakistani troops

ISLAMABAD: Five Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistani border guards as they responded to ‘unprovoked firing’ from Indian troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir on Wednesday.

The deadly skirmishes came hours after Indian forces killed two men and wounded eight others in firing on civilian population near the Working Boundary.

Military sources said Pakistani troops effectively hit a number of Indian posts on the LoC and working boundary in a befitting response to continuing ceasefire violations by Indian border guards. “Four Indian posts were destroyed in Bhimber Sector of the LoC in which five Indian soldiers are confirmed to have been killed,” according to one military source.



Earlier in the day the Pakistani military said Indian firing killed two civilians in a border village. “Two civilians embraced shahadat (martyrdom) in Chaprar Sector on the working boundary due to India’s unprovoked firing,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

“Eight civilians were also injured by the Indian fire,” it added. “Another civilian who was injured by the Indian firing at LoC on Monday succumbed to injuries on Wednesday.”

The latest clashes came a day after Pakistan summoned India’s deputy high commissioner to the Foreign Office to lodge a protest “over the unprovoked firing by India on the LoC and the working boundary on October 25 and 26”.

A strong protest was lodged against unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian forces in Phuklian and Chaprar sectors that resulted in the martyrdom of two civilians, including one-and-a-half-year old girl, the Foreign Office said in a statement. Six civilians were also wounded in shooting by Indian troops.

It called on India to “instruct its troops to respect the ceasefire” and “refrain from intentionally targeting the villages and maintain peace”.

A day earlier, Pakistan lodged a strong protest with the United Nations Military Observers group in India and Pakistan regarding unprovoked firing by Indian troops.

Relations between the two countries have plummeted in recent months, with India blaming Pakistani militants for a raid on an army base in the Uri area of disputed Kashmir in September that killed 19 soldiers.

According to an official tally, so far this year, Indian troops have violated the 2003 ceasefire agreement 135 times – 114 times on the LoC and 21 on the working boundary. More than half of truce violations took place in the month of October when Indian politicians whipped up war hysteria following the Uri attack.

Official stats show that, there have been 78 ceasefire violations by India in Oct, of which, 58 were on the LoC and 20 on the working boundary. Four Pakistanis have been killed and 25 wounded in firing by Indian forces at the working boundary, while the casualty figures for the LoC are not available.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2016.