2 civilians killed, 6 injured in PaK

Cross LoC shelling claimed the lives of two persons in Pakistan administered Kashmir on Saturday while another six, including an infant, were injured, officials said.

Casualties occurred in different villages of Nakyal sector in Kotli district, which was targeted by Indian troops from across the restive Line of Control (LoC) intermittently throughout the preceding night and fiercely during the day, said Waleed Anwar, assistant commissioner of Nakyal.

   

“The area received shells in most parts of the night, but from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, shelling was intense and indiscriminate,” he told Greater Kashmir by telephone.

Some of the shells landed on some houses in Tarkundi village, located barely few hundred yards before the LoC, leaving 23-year old Nafeesa Saleem dead and four others from her family injured, he said.

He identified the injured persons as Sahiba Matloob, 23, her 7-months old daughter Noor Fatima, Nasim Akhtar, 40, and Muhammad Ejaz, 27.

In Datot High Dharra village, Dil Muhammad, 50, lost his life while his married niece Farzana Kausar was injured, Anwar said.

Earlier, Mohammad Shabbir, 53, was injured in Tarkundi village past midnight, he added.

Anwar said that victims were evacuated to the health facilities only after the intensity of shelling subsided.

Dr Tariq Mehmood, medical superintendent at District Headquarters Hospital Kotli told Greater Kashmir by telephone that three patients were brought to his facility.

Of them, the infant had got four fingers of her right hand blown up while her mother had received injuries in head, he said.

The mother and child were being treated here but the third patient, Akhtar, had been referred to Military Hospital Rawalpindi, because she had received multiple splinter injuries, he added.

The heavily militarised LoC has been witnessing frequent skirmishes and artillery duels, in a serious breach of a ceasefire agreement signed by both armies in November 2003.

On Friday, a man was killed and a minor girl wounded in PaK’s Bhimber district along the LoC. Earlier on Jan 11, a woman was killed in Khuiratta sector of Kotli district.

Apart from the LoC, the Working Boundary is also witnessing ceasefire violations and casualties.

According to Foreign Office, Indian forces had committed more than 1900 ceasefire violations along the LoC and Working Boundary in 2017 and more than 75 in the first 20 days of 2018.

Pertinently, the leadership of Pakistan Rangers and India’s Border Security Forces had agreed at a conference in New Delhi in November last year that the “spirit” of the 2003 truce accord must be revived to protect innocent lives.

Pakistan summons Indian envoy:

Pakistan today summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner J P Singh for the fourth time this week and condemned the alleged “unprovoked ceasefire violations” across the LoC by Indian forces.

The Foreign Office (FO) said that Indian troops violated the ceasefire in Khuiratta, Bagsar and Khanjar Sectors on the Line of Control (LoC) on January 20.

The firing killed a 60-year-old civilian and injured two others, including a child, it said.

Director General (South Asia and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal, who is also the foreign ministry spokesman, summoned Singh and “condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control and Working Boundary on January 20”.

He said the number of casualties at the Working Boundary has risen due to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces, where four more innocent civilians were killed while 20 injured on January 18 and 19.

“The Indian forces along the Line of Control and the Working Boundary are continuously targeting civilian populated areas with heavy mortars and automatic weapons,” Faisal said.

He alleged that the Indian forces have carried out more than 150 ceasefire violations along the LoC and the Working Boundary in just 20 days this year, killing nine innocent civilians and injuring 40 others.

This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed more than 1,900 ceasefire violations, Faisal said.

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