Pakistan protests killing of 5 civilians in Indian shelling

Indian envoy summoned to Foreign Office to lodge diplomatic protest

ISLAMABAD: With the Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) commemorating the first death anniversary of popular militant commander Burhan Wani on Saturday, Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing into Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), killing at least five people and injuring 10 others.

Indian forces undertook unprovoked firing of small and heavy weapons as well as mortars along the Line of Control (LoC) in Chirikot and Satwal sector, said a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), adding that Pakistani troops effectively responded to the Indian firing.

According to Poonch’s Deputy Commissioner Raja Tahir Mumtaz, Indian forces opened fire into two different sectors of LoC in the early hours of Saturday. Four citizens, including three women, were killed and 10 others sustained injuries in one incident. And one citizen was killed and two others injured in the other.

After the incident, Foreign Office’s Director General (DG) Dr Mohammad Faisal summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces.



“The deliberate targeting of civilians is indeed deplorable and contrary to human dignity and international human rights and humanitarian laws,” Faisal was quoted in a press statement.

He urged the Indian side to respect its 2003 ceasefire agreement; investigate the current one and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit, and maintain peace on the LoC.

He said the Indian side should permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its role mandated under the UN Security Council resolutions.

AJK President Masood Khan and Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider termed the Indian firing violation of LoC and human rights.

The AJK president said the recent spates of unprovoked Indian aggression reflected frustration of Indian forces in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).



“Heinous acts of Indian forces could not deter us from supporting Kashmiri brethren. India will have to pay a heavy price of its barbaric acts sooner or later,” added the AJK PM.

Indian forces have intensified unprovoked shelling across the LoC after a fresh wave of unrest in the wake of Wani’s killing in IOK on July 8, 2016.

(WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)