Four soldiers drown as Pakistan Army vehicle hit by Indian fire falls into river

Soldiers drowned when their vehicle fell in Neelum River: ISPR

MUZAFFARABAD/ ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistani soldiers drowned on Sunday after Indian troops targeted their vehicle along the Line of Control (LoC) and it fell into Neelum River in Athmaqam.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the body of one of the soldiers had been found while the search for the others was under way by the time this report was filed.

Pakistani troops effectively responded to the cease fire violation, the ISPR added.

Last year on November 23, Indian army targeted a passenger bus in the same area, killing 12 civilians.

The latest ceasefire violation along the de facto border suggests continued tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbours.



Speaking at news briefing earlier in the day, DG ISPR Major General Asif Ghafoor said the ceasefire violations committed by the Indian troops along the LoC had broken all previous records.

He said India violated the ceasefire 315 times in 2014, 248 in 2015, and 382 in 2016 while this year so far the number of such violations had risen to 580.



“This is the highest number if we compare the past ceasefire violations,” the DG ISPR said, adding that the number of civilians killed on the Pakistani side was also the highest compared to the past.

The spokesperson said India was raising the tension along the LoC in order to divert the global attention from the current unrest in disputed Kashmir.

Kashmiri leaders condemn attack

Leaders of the different political parties in the AJK condemned the attack.

Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan, President Sardar Masood Khan, Opposition leader Chaudhry Muhammad Yaseen, President Pakistan Peoples Party Latif Akbar and the parliamentary leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf in AJK Assembly Abdul Majid Khan strongly condemned the act while terming it “barbaric and inhumane”.

“Continuous ceasefire violation on the LoC by the Indian army shows New Delhi is not sincere regarding peace in South Asia. World powers and United Nations should take the notice of this barbaric act,” Akbar said.