Pakistan lodges protest with India over fatal ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office on Wednesday lodged protest with India over the killing of two civilians in intense ‘unprovoked’ shelling by Indian troops from across the Line of Control (LoC) in the sectors of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, ARY News reported.

The Foreign Office summoned Indian Deputy High Commission JP Singh and condemned the unrelenting, intense shelling by Indian troops along the LoC which caused civilian causalities. “India frequently resorted to the ceasefire violations by deliberately targeting civilian populations,” the foreign office here told Indian diplomat.

At least two civilians were killed and 16 others wounded when Indian forces resorted to intense shelling, targeting civilian population on the Pakistani side of the Himayalan region. The fatalities took place in Samahni and Nakyal sectors of Bhimer and Kotli districts of Kashmir.

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The two nuclear-armed rivals have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which both countries claim in its entirety, since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1947. The Himalayan region is split between Indian and Pakistani-controlled zones separated by the heavily militarized Line of Control.

Ceasefire violations have become a norm along the LoC leading to frequent civilian causalities.