MUZAFFARABAD: Indian troops began on Wednesday heavy shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) without any provocation, leaving one civilian dead and six others, five of them women, wounded, officials said.

Reacting to the incident, the Foreign Office summoned the acting Indian deputy high commissioner in Islamabad to lodge a strong protest over the ceasefire violations.

The casualties occurred in different villages of the Nakyal sector in Kotli district while people were getting ready for their daily work, said Waleed Anwar, assistant commissioner of the area.

“The shelling began at 7.15am and continued till afternoon, initially indiscriminately and later intermittently, restricting people indoors,” he told Dawn.

A shell landed in the courtyard of a house in Balakot village, killing Malick Mohammad Razaq, 25, on the spot and injuring his 35-year-old married sister Irum Kosar. In the same village, another woman, identified as Ghulam Fatima, 45, was injured.

Kulsoom Begum, 45, was injured in Oli Panjni village, Kalsoom Aziz, 40, in Pir Klanjar, Ahsan Karim, 13, in Datot Patochi and Nasreen Akhtar, 35, in Mithrani village.

All the injured were taken to the tehsil headquarters hospital in Nakyal.

In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said Indian troops resorted to unprovoked fire along the LoC in the Nakyal sector, targeting civil population with heavy weapons, including mortars and anti-tank guided missiles.

The ISPR also confirmed the casualties and said the Pakistan Army responded “effectively” and targeted Indian posts from where fire was coming. “There were reports of casualties to Indian troops and material losses,” the ISPR said.

The heavily-militarised LoC and Working Boundary are regularly witnessing ceasefire violations by Indian troops that mostly culminate in civilian casualties.

According to a Foreign Office handout, Indian forces have committed more than 873 ceasefire violations along the LoC and Working Boundary this year, resulting in the deaths of 40 innocent civilians and injuries to 148 others, as compared to 382 ceasefire violations last year.

The FO statement said the acting director general (South Asia and Saarc) summoned the acting Indian deputy high commissioner and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces in the Nakyal sector.

He urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 ceasefire arrangement, investigate this and other incidents of ceasefire violations, instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and Working Boundary. He said India should permit the United Nations Military Observers Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions.

Published in Dawn, September 28th, 2017