Serious injuries to six civilians: Indian diplomat summoned over ceasefire violations

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan summoned a senior Indian diplomat on Monday and registered with him a strong protest over ceasefire violations by India troops along the Line of Control that resulted in serious injuries to six innocent civilians.

The Foreign Office said the Indian diplomat was summoned over the ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the LoC on July 12, 2020.

It stated that due to the indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Rakhchikri and Khuiratta sectors of the LoC, 57-year-old Naseem Bibi, 35-year-old Shabnum Bibi, 11-year-old Adeeba, 20-year-old Adil Hameed, 32-year-old Pervez and 35-year-old Javed Hussain sustained serious injuries.

The injured civilians are residents of Kirni, Jijot Bahadar, and Jagalpal village. "The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian-populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons," it stated.

This year, India has committed 1,659 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 14 Shahadats and serious injuries to 129 innocent civilians, it further noted.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it stated that it was underscored that such senseless acts were in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and were also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.

It stated that the Indian side was conveyed that those egregious violations of international law reflected consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and were a threat to regional peace and security.

It was added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India could not divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K).

It added that the Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB.

The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, it added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020