MUZAFFARABAD: Ceasefire violations by Indian troops on Saturday left two civilians injured in Samahni sector of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), police said.

“Indian troops resorted to firing from across the Line of Control [LoC] without any provocation, targeting Tandarr village in the afternoon, leaving two people wounded,” an official of the Samahni police station told Dawn by telephone.

The Samahni sector is located in AJK’s southernmost Bhimber district.

The official said the names of the injured were Nasir Ayub, 25, and Samiya Kousar, 22.

FO urges international community to take notice of targeting of civilians

The Foreign Office (FO) confirmed the ceasefire violations and the casualties.

“We deplore Indian targeting of civilians,” said FO spokesperson Nafees Zakaria in a statement.

“The international community should take notice of targeting of civilians by India and her actions that endanger regional peace,” he added.

A report presented in the Senate said Indian forces violated the ceasefire agreement more than 100 times last year.

The report was jointly presented in the house late last year by the chiefs of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Nuzhat Sadiq.

It said that Indian troops had violated the ceasefire agreement 58 times since the Uri incident on Sept 18 alone.

“Pakistan does not initiate any border violations, but all border violations are responded to adequately,” added the report.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2017