ISLAMABAD: United Nations military observers visited on Monday villages near the Working Boundary that had been hit by Indian shelling last week.

“A team of United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) today visited the most affected villages on Working Boundary near Sialkot due to Indian unprovoked shelling,” a military spokesman said.

The UNMOGIP observers visited the villages of Salehpur, Chaprar and Malane in the Chaprar Sector to observe damage caused by the Indian shelling and firing.

Three of four people killed in last week’s firing were from Malana and Salehpur villages.

During the visit the observers met the injured and inspected damaged houses.

On Friday the army approached the UNMOGIP with a complaint against the latest ceasefire breaches along the Line of Control (LoC) and Working Boundary (WB) by India and urged the observers to investigate the violations.

Pakistan has continued to lodge complaints with UNMOGIP even though India refuses their peacekeeping mandate.

The ceasefire violations, meanwhile, continued during Eid holidays with India forces shelling villages in the LoC’s Nezapir sector.

“Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing using small arms, rockets, mortars and heavy machinegun on LoC in Nezapir sector on the Eid Day,” a military spokesman said, adding that Indian troops opened fire on a front of 11 kilometres at Rawalakot (Nezapir) - Poonch sector along the LoC at 1.35pm on Saturday which continued intermittently for five hours.

Pakistan troops, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations, effectively responded to the Indian fire.

“Pattern shows they (Indians) resort to such violations on every festive occasion. Ironic they violate and also accuse,” ISPR Director General Maj Gen Asim Bajwa said.

Meanwhile, a Foreign Office statement said on the shelling: “It is deeply regretted that once again the ceasefire violations by the Indian troops are being committed during the Eid holidays, as was done by them last year, when many innocent civilians were martyred. This time four civilians lost their lives on 15 and 16 July when people were busy preparing for the most happy and sacred occasion of Eidul Fitr.”

Last year’s major skirmishes along the LoC and Working Boundary had started on the occasion of Eidul Azha.

Following a longstanding tradition of exchanging sweets on festive occasions, Indian Border Security Force, which is involved in shelling Working Boundary villages, sent a message to Rangers that they intended to deliver sweets.

But Pakistani officials declined to accept the sweets.

“We give sweets on Eid every time. The Rangers have not accepted it today,” BSF Deputy Inspector General MF Farooqui said, according to Indian media.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi had in a meeting in Ufa on July 10, before the latest round of LoC/Working Boundary exchanges, agreed to lower tensions and had decided that meetings of the directors general of BSF and Rangers and DGMOs would be convened to discuss the exchanges along the LoC and Working Boundary and a mechanism would be worked out for ensuring implementation of the 2003 ceasefire accord.

Last week’s flare-up has, however, dampened hopes of the Ufa agreement succeeding.

“Pakistan lodges protest at the provocative act, which is against the spirit of the understanding reached at the Ufa meeting, and hopes that the Indian government would observe the understanding reached between the two sides during 2003 to maintain peace and tranquillity at the LoC and Working Boundary in the letter and spirit,” the Foreign Office said in a protest statement issued during Eid break.

Earlier on Friday, Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghavan was summoned to the Foreign Office to receive protest over LoC/Wording Boundary ceasefire violations, airspace violation by Indian spy drone on the LoC, and threatening manoeuvres by Indian helicopters.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2015

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