MUZAFFARABAD/UNITED NATIONS: “Unrelenting and indiscriminate” shelling by Indian troops from across the Line of Control killed an elderly man and wounded six others, including three siblings, in Nakyal sector of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday.
Munshi Khan, 70, was killed late in the evening after a mortar shell landed in his house in Bani Lanjot village in the southern Kotli district, a police official told Dawn from the area.
Residents said a shrapnel pierced through the victim's neck, killing him on the spot. Two other members of his family were wounded.
Earlier in the day, the official said, a shell landed in the courtyard of a house in Datot village, injuring three siblings identified as Ambrina, 20, Rozina, 17, and Sheraz, 16.
Separately, another person was also injured in the same village.
According to officials, all vulnerable educational institutions in Nakyal sector had been closed due to “unrelenting and indiscriminate shelling.”
AJK minister for food, Javed Iqbal Budhanvi, who represents Nakyal in the legislative assembly, told Dawn that around 60,000 residents had been affected by Indian shelling in his constituency.
“Though some families have moved to safer areas in the rear, but by and large people are demonstrating extreme courage in the face of unrelenting shelling by Indian troops,” he said.
Elsewhere, in Kerni village of Haveli district, a shell hit the building of a high school, but there was no physical loss. The school had also been closed as a precautionary measure, another official said.
After Tuesday's casualties, the death toll in the latest bout of trans-LoC shelling has risen to five in Nakyal sector, while one death was recorded in Haveli district.
At least two dozen people have received minor or critical wounds.
UN chief urges restraint after Kashmir clashes
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday urged India and Pakistan to show restraint following clashes in the disputed region of Kashmir that have caused deaths on both sides.
Ban said an upcoming meeting of security chiefs on August 23-24 could help bolster dialogue between the two countries, which have fought three wars, two of them over Kashmir.
Six civilians also died over the weekend in occupied Kashmir after firing and shelling by Pakistani troops from across the border, according to Indian police.
Ban expressed “serious concern about the recent escalation of violence” and urged both India and Pakistan “to exercise maximum restraint and take all feasible steps to ensure the protection of civilians.” India and Pakistan often accuse each other of violating a 2003 ceasefire agreement in Kashmir.
Earlier in August, Pakistan had lodged a strong protest with India over the ceasefire violations across the LoC and also strongly condemned the death of civilians on the Pakistani side due to firing across the LoC.
The Indian envoy was asked to ensure that the Ceasefire Understanding of 2003 should be adhered to in order to create peace and tranquility along the LoC.
Pakistan Army had also lodged a strong protest with the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) over unprovoked firing by Indian troops.
Read: Pakistan moves UNMOGIP over unprovoked Indian firing along LoC
Ceasefire violations along the LoC and working boundary between Pakistan and India continue intermittently, with casualties reported on both sides.
Official sources say unprovoked firing by Indian troops on the working boundary has been continuing for the past many weeks.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan by the UN-monitored de facto border of LoC but is claimed in full by both the countries.
