A 22-year old girl was killed and her younger sibling and another teenaged boy were wounded in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Saturday due to “unprovoked” Indian firing across the Line of Control (LoC).

The casualties took place in the Nakyal sector of southern Kotli after a considerable lull in ceasefire violations, according to Waleed Anwar, assistant commissioner of the area.

Tosheeba Iqbal, daughter of Raja Iqbal, died on the spot while her 18-year old sister, Aneeqa Iqbal, was critically injured after being hit by shrapnel from a mortar shell in Balakot village at about 7:35pm, he told Dawn by telephone from the vulnerable area.

“Both sisters were believed to be in the courtyard of their house when the shell landed on their neighbour’s house,” Anwar said, quoting preliminary reports from the affected area.

He said Aneeqa was being taken to Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Nakyal, reportedly in serious condition.

Earlier in the day, a 16-year old boy, Mohammad Liaquat, received a bullet wound in his right leg shortly before noon in Oli Panjni village after Indian troops resorted to small arms fire without any provocation, he said.

The LoC that splits the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir between Pakistan and India has been relatively calm since September 2, when a 5-year-old girl was killed in the Abbaspur sector of Poonch district.

However, while the LoC remained calm over the last three weeks, the Working Boundary saw heavy mortar shelling on Thursday which, according to a statement by the army's media wing, left six civilians dead and around 26 others injured in Harpal and Charwa sectors.

On August 27, three siblings were killed in Indian shelling in the Nezapir sector of AJK’s Haveli district.