Civilian martyred by Indian troops firing along LoC

RAWALPINDI: Indian troops open unprovoked firing along the Line on Control and killed a civilian named Abdul Rauf, said the Inter Services Public Relations.

The incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon in the Kotkoterra Sector along the LoC. The individual was grazing animals when he was targeted by Indian troops.

Earlier this month, an elderly man was killed when Indian troops resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violations from across the LoC in Danna sector targeting civilian population.

As a result, 65-year old Zulifqar embraced martyrdom in Mouji village. Pakistan army troops retaliated by targeting the Indian posts indulging in ceasefire violations.

Earlier on Aug 8, Foreign Office spokesperson Dr Faisal Muhammad had said India has breached the ceasefire along the LoC on more than 1400 occasions, killing at least 30 civilians.

The Foreign Office had previously said more than 1,500 Indian ceasefire violations occurred in 2017, the highest ever in the recent past, resulting in 52 deaths and injuring 175.

Pakistan maintains that India by firing on the LoC was attempting to “deflect the attention of the international community from the continuing Indian atrocities against Kashmiris”.

Ceasefire violations are a frequent feature along the Line of Control (LoC) despite the leadership of the two sides agreeing in November 2017 that the “spirit” of a 2003 ceasefire agreement must be revived to protect innocent lives.

As Indian and Pakistani troops regularly exchange fire across their de-facto border in Kashmir, Pakistan has repeatedly told India to refrain from creating tensed circumstances for the soldiers along the border.