ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday lodged protest with the Government of India through diplomatic channels over the casualty of an elderly civilian in the Rawlakot sector, caused due to indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces, on October 28.

Foreign office Spokesperson Tasneem Aslam, in a statement said Pakistan offers its condolences to bereaved family of the victim.

Condemning the incident, Pakistan called upon India to restrain its security forces from firing on the civilians and stop the ceasefire violations across the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary.

An elderly Pakistani man was killed last night by Indian troops as fresh cross-border firing rocked the disputed Kashmir region.

Mohammad Din, around 80, was herding goats outside his home in the Chari Kot border village of Pakistani administered Kashmir on Tuesday when he was killed by “unprovoked” firing by Indian troops, Abdul Majeed Mughal, a senior government official in the region tasked with monitoring cross border fire, told AFP.

Local government officials also confirmed the casualty caused by shots from Indian soldiers, adding that Pakistani troops returned fire.

At least 20 civilians have been killed and thousands on both sides of the LoC, the de facto border, have fled their homes since October 6 – the beginning of some of the worst frontier shelling in years.

The nuclear-armed neighbours, who have fought two wars over Muslim-majority Kashmir, have traded blame for the recent violence in the disputed Himalayan region.

Both countries administer parts of Kashmir but claim sovereignty over the whole region.

India called off peace talks last month after Pakistan consulted with Kashmiri separatists, in a move some saw as a sign of a tougher stance under Narendra Modi's new right-wing government.