ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday summoned a senior Indian diplomat to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge strong protest over firing and shelling by Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in which two civilians suffered serious injuries.

The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, mortars and automatic weapons.

The “indiscriminate and unprovoked” ceasefire violation by the Indian occupation forces on Sept 24 at the LoC caused serious injuries to Shakeel Ayub, 35, and Luqman Shakeel, 8, residents of Baroh village, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Two civilians injured in firing by occupation forces from across LoC

India has committed 2,340 ceasefire violations so far this year, resulting in martyrdom of 18 people and serious injuries to 187 others.

Condemning the deplorable targeting of civilians by occupation forces, the Indian diplomat was informed that “such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 ceasefire understanding, and are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.

“These egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and are a threat to regional peace and security.”

Pakistan informed India that by raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention of the world from the grave human rights situation in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.

The Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 ceasefire understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the WB.

The Indian side was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2020