ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office has summoned a senior Indian diplomat to register Pakistan’s strong protest over the latest ceasefire violations by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC), resulting in serious injuries to an innocent civilian.
According to a statement issued from a foreign office on Monday, “Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Bangsar Sector of the LoC, 20-year-old Moin Akhtar s/o Muhammad Akhtar, resident of Village Mehtika, sustained serious injuries.”
The statement further said the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons.
In 2020, India has committed 1,732 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 14 martyrdoms and serious injuries to 134 innocent civilians.
Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored 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, the statement read.
“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”, it added.
“By raising tensions along the LoC and the WB, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K)”, read a foreign office statement.
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 (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions, the FO said.
Earlier on Friday, two women were critically injured after Indian troops resorted to unprovoked firing in Rakhchikri and Baroh sectors along the LoC.
The military’s media wing informed that the Indian Army has committed ceasefire violations at least 1,697 times in 2020 alone.
On July 12, Indian forces had injured as many as six civilians including two women and an 11-year-old girl in separate incidents of unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC).
The violations of the ceasefire come in the backdrop of India’s skirmish with China in June and Pakistan offering consular access for the third time to its convicted spy, Kulbhushan Jadhav.
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