RAWALPINDI: Two civilians including a minor girl were killed in firing by Indian troops across the two countries’ de facto border, Pakistan’s military said on Monday, as tensions soar between the nuclear-armed rivals.
“Due to Indian unprovoked firing last night a civilian, Muhammad Latif of village Janglora, and a minor Haniya, age one and a half, embraced shahadat (martyrdom) while seven civilians were injured,” said Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement.
The firing took place across the border between Indian-held Kashmir and Pakistan’s Punjab province in the villages of Harpal, Pukhlian and Charwah, the statement said.
According to the Public Relations wing of the Pakistan Army, intermittent exchange of firing continued throughout the night and added, at least seven injured civilians including two women were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Sialkot.
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Tensions between the two arch rivals have been boiling since the Indian government accused Pakistan of supporting an assault on an army base in the held Kashmir that killed 18 soldiers.
Occasional violations of a 2003 ceasefire between the nuclear-armed rivals are not uncommon. The last was reported on October 19 that killed a civilian during another episode of firing across the Line of Control (LoC).
Kashmir is divided between Pakistan and India, but both claim it in full. Kashmiris in the Indian-held part of the territory have been fighting for decades to break free from New Delhi. They seek either a sovereign state or a merger with Pakistan.
The nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars since they gained independence from Britain seven decades ago, two of them over Kashmir.
