Indian troops kill elderly villager in Rawalakot
A sixty-year-old Muhammad Aslam was cutting grass and wood some 100 to 150 metres inside the LoC
A sixty-year-old Muhammad Aslam was cutting grass and wood some 100 to 150 metres inside the LoC. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD:
Unprovoked firing by Indian troops on Saturday claimed the life of an elderly villager in Rawalakot sector of the Line of Control.
“Sixty-year-old Muhammad Aslam, a resident of Polas village, was cutting grass and wood some 100 to 150 metres inside the LoC in AJK [Azad Jammu and Kashmir] when he came under Indian fire and was killed,” the army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement. Pakistani troops responded to the Indian firing, it added.
Deputy High Commissioner of India J P Singh was sent a protest letter by Pakistan’s foreign ministry over Aslam’s death.
While condemning the incident, the foreign ministry spokesperson said Pakistan called upon India to restrain its security forces from firing on civilians and stop the ceasefire violations across the LoC and the Working Boundary.
He stated that the government has offered its condolences to the bereaved family of the victim.
“The man was an inhabitant of the area and was cutting grass 150 metres inside the Pakistani side of the LoC,” the spokesperson remarked.
In December 2013, Pakistan and India had pledged to uphold the 2003 LoC ceasefire accord which had been left in tatters by repeated violations that year. The truce breaches had put the nascent bilateral peace dialogue on hold.
The DG military operations of the two countries had agreed to a number of steps to keep the ceasefire accord intact.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2015.
Unprovoked firing by Indian troops on Saturday claimed the life of an elderly villager in Rawalakot sector of the Line of Control.
“Sixty-year-old Muhammad Aslam, a resident of Polas village, was cutting grass and wood some 100 to 150 metres inside the LoC in AJK [Azad Jammu and Kashmir] when he came under Indian fire and was killed,” the army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement. Pakistani troops responded to the Indian firing, it added.
Deputy High Commissioner of India J P Singh was sent a protest letter by Pakistan’s foreign ministry over Aslam’s death.
While condemning the incident, the foreign ministry spokesperson said Pakistan called upon India to restrain its security forces from firing on civilians and stop the ceasefire violations across the LoC and the Working Boundary.
He stated that the government has offered its condolences to the bereaved family of the victim.
“The man was an inhabitant of the area and was cutting grass 150 metres inside the Pakistani side of the LoC,” the spokesperson remarked.
In December 2013, Pakistan and India had pledged to uphold the 2003 LoC ceasefire accord which had been left in tatters by repeated violations that year. The truce breaches had put the nascent bilateral peace dialogue on hold.
The DG military operations of the two countries had agreed to a number of steps to keep the ceasefire accord intact.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2015.