MUZAFFARABAD: Two Pakistani soldiers were mar­tyred after Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing from across the Line of Control (LoC) on Wed­nes­­day, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The casualties occurred in Bhimber sector, located in the southernmost Bhim­ber district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, according to the army’s media affairs wing.

“Indian troops initiated unprovoked firing in Bhim­ber sector. Two Pakistan Army soldiers embraced shahadat,” the ISPR said in a late-night press release.

The deceased soldiers belonged to two different districts of Azad Kashmir.

The ISPR identified them as 32-year-old Sepoy Moham­mad Munir Chohan, a resident of Rakri Chohan village in tehsil Forward Kah­uta of Haveli district, and 28-year-old Sepoy Aamir Hussain, a resident of Danna village in tehsil Samahni of Bhimber district.

The ISPR said that Pakistani troops responded to Indian firing and there were reports of substantial damage to posts on the other side of the LoC.

The heavily militarised LoC that splits the disputed Himalayan region of Kash­mir into two has been constantly witnessing exchange of fire in a serious breach of a ceasefire agreement sig­n­ed by the two armies in November 2003.

Resultantly, a number of civilian casualties have occurred in Azad Kashmir.

According to the AJK State Disaster Management Authority, 14 civilians have lost their lives while another 62 have been wounded in the ongoing Indian shelling.

The Foreign Office summoned on Tuesday Indian Deputy High Commissioner J.P. Singh and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the LoC after a boy lost his life due to the shelling.

Published in Dawn, March 1st, 2018