Acting Foreign Secretary Aitzaz Ahmed on Friday summoned Indian High Commissioner Gautam Bambawale to "condemn the unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian troops in Charwa sector, near the Working Boundary on September 21," the Foreign Office said Friday in a press release.

Yesterday, six people, including four women, were killed and 20 others were injured near Sialkot as Indian forces resorted to unprovoked firing of mortars targeting civilians.

According to a press release from the Foreign Office, in 2017 alone, Indian troops have carried out more than 870 ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Working Boundary, resulting in the death of 38 civilians and injuries to 142.

"The deliberate targeting of civilians is contrary to human dignity and against international human rights laws," the press release said.

According to the Foreign Office, the acting foreign secretary urged the Indian envoy to respect the 2003 ceasefire agreement and investigate the rising number of violations.

"[The Indian side should] instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire — in letter and spirit," the press release quoted Ahmed as saying.

He also urged the Indian side to permit the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role, in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.

Core Commander Gujranwala Lt Gen Iqramul Haq on Friday also visited the area affected by the Indian troops' firing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a separate release.

According to the ISPR, Lt Gen Haq was briefed about ceasefire violations during his visit. He also visited the injured at Combined Military Hospital Sialkot.

Pak, India DGMOs make contact

Special hotline contact was also established between Directors General of Military Operations (DGMOs) of Pakistan and India to discuss the "deliberate targeting of Pakistani civilians residing in vicinity of working boundary," the ISPR said on Friday.

"The violation clearly undermines all existing understandings on the issue," the ISPR said.

According to the ISPR, the army conveyed its "unflinching resolve to ensure security of its population" to the Indian DGMO.

"[The army] shall continue to take all necessary measures to deter any such aggression in future," the ISPR said.

Earlier incidents

Earlier this month, a five-year-old girl was killed in Azad Jammu and Kashmir when an Indian soldier opened fire across the LoC.

The orphan was killed when a single bullet fired by an Indian soldier hit her as she stood in the courtyard of her house in Polas village of Abbaspur sector in the southern Poonch district.

Protests were held in the area against the "apathy of the state and the government towards the plight of the people living along the LoC" after the incident.

More recently, an elderly man was killed in a cross-border exchange of fire.