Light and heavy artillery were used by the Indian forces to target the civilian population. PHOTO: FILE
Four civilians were martyred and 10 others injured in different villages along the Line of Control (LoC) when Indian security forces resorted to unprovoked firing, deliberately targeting the civil population hours after violating the Pakistani airspace on Tuesday.
Casualties took place in Fatehpur Thakiala, Charhoti and Khuiratta tehsils of Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Kotli district, according to an official report by the Kotli deputy commissioner.
Martyred are identified as Shehnaz Begum, Motian Bibi, Zarina and Gulfraz while Adnan, Munir Kausar, Sumaira, Farooq, Muhammad Saghir, Sarfraz Ahmed, Umar Mushtaq, Shamim Akhtar, Abdul Rehman and Khaqan sustained wounds in the Indian firing that continued throughout the day till 11pm.
According to the report, light and heavy artillery were used by the Indian forces to target the civilian population.
It’s your turn to get ready for surprise, Pakistan Army tells India
Earlier in the day, the Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft violated Pakistani airspace near the Line of Control and were chased away by Pakistan Air Force (PAF) jets, which were immediately scrambled to thwart any aggressive move by the country’s eastern neighbour.
Indian media started thumping chest soon after Delhi claimed that IAF jets had struck what it called the biggest training camp of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) militant group in Balakot area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in a pre-dawn air strike, flattening the compound and killing 350 so-called terrorists.
Pakistan Army, however, tore to pieces a ‘reckless and fictitious’ Indian claim that its warplanes have launched “air strikes” against an alleged terrorist training camp deep inside Pakistani territory and inflicted heavy casualties.
The airspace violation by Indian jets capped 12 days of bitter exchanges between the two nuclear-armed hostile neighbours, triggering international alarm, with China and the European Union calling for both sides to show restraint.
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